Along with seven other defendants, including high-ranking military officials and former ministers in his administration, Jair Bolsonaro faces maximum sentences of up to 40 years in prison.
The Prosecutor's Office's complaint filed in February accuses Bolsonaro
and 33 suspects of attempting to invalidate the results of the 2022 elections, which Lula won, to remain in power.
According to Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the presiding judge in the case and the first to vote, "We had an extremely violent coup attempt, savage violence, with a request for military intervention for a coup d'état," he argued in his vote at the hearing. The judge held that "the criminal organization followed all necessary steps to overthrow the legitimately elected government," an objective that "was not achieved" due to "the resistance of the Army and Air Force commanders to the exceptional measures."
"This is a unique moment in our history, to prosecute and judge, within the framework of the Constitution, those responsible for attacking the democratic rule of law," Senator Humberto Costa, head of the Workers' Party (PT), stated in a statement.