Bolsonaro coup trial proceeds with one judge voting not guilty

Daniel Carvalho, Bloomberg News on Sep 10, 2025

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Brazil Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux voted against the conviction of Jair Bolsonaro on coup attempt charges Wednesday, the first member of the panel overseeing the former president’s trial to find him not guilty.

Two judges declared Bolsonaro guilty on Tuesday, leaving the five-member panel a vote shy of the majority necessary to convict the right-wing former leader with two justices still to issue rulings.

Bolsonaro stands accused of plotting to remain in power after his 2022 election defeat through a military coup that prosecutors say included plans to assassinate President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing.

Fux diverged from the first two judges, voting against conviction on all five charges Bolsonaro is facing. The judge said there can be no coup without the overthrow of a legitimately elected government.

“Removal of a government, that’s what the law requires,” Fux said in a vote that lasted roughly nine hours.

Earlier in the day, Fux opened the session by requesting the annulment of the case, arguing that the panel lacks jurisdiction over Bolsonaro’s trial. Instead, he said, it should be heard by a lower court or all 11 members of the Supreme Court. He also requested annulment on grounds of a denial of the right to defense, echoing claims from Bolsonaro’s defense team that it had not had proper access to evidence against him.

Fux would need two other judges to support those claims, and acknowledged during Tuesday’s session that the rest of the panel had already “defeated” him on his process concerns. Even if unsuccessful, Fux’s assertions could aid Bolsonaro’s appeal, and a potential request from his defense team to annul the case.

The case stems from the Jan. 8 insurrection attempt in Brasilia during which thousands of his supporters stormed major government buildings while calling on the military to oust Lula, who had taken office a week earlier.

Prosecutors and Moraes say the plot traces back to 2021, when Bolsonaro aired a livestream in which he cast doubt on the country’s electronic voting system. They’ve alleged that the planning included meetings between Bolsonaro and military brass over a possible intervention after his defeat, and that the right-wing former leader had full knowledge of a plot to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Moraes cast the first vote to convict Bolsonaro on all charges, saying there is “no doubt that there was an attempted coup.”

Justice Flavio Dino followed by voting to find Bolsonaro guilty on all charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 43 years behind bars. In the event of a conviction, the panel would hold another vote to set a sentence. Bolsonaro, who has been on house arrest since early August, would be able to appeal.

Fux, however, argued that Jan. 8 rioters were a “disorderly mob,” and cited other episodes from the past that had not been considered coup attempts under the law.

U.S. threats

The case is likely to reverberate through Brazilian politics and international relations, reshaping the country’s 2026 election while potentially drawing backlash from Donald Trump.

The U.S. leader has imposed steep tariffs on many Brazilian goods and sanctions on Moraes in an attempt to stop the trial of his ally. The court, Lula’s government and Brazilian banks have braced for additional blowback as the trial proceeds.

“We have taken significant action with regard to Brazil,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at her Tuesday briefing. “I don’t have any additional actions to preview for you today, but I can tell you this is a priority for the administration and the president is unafraid to use the economic might, the military might of the United States of America to protect free speech around the world.”

In a statement that doesn’t mention Trump or the U.S. government, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government condemns the use of economic sanctions or threats of force against the country.

“The Brazilian government repudiates the attempt by anti-democratic forces to instrumentalize foreign governments to coerce national institutions,” read the note.

Bolsonaro, who spent months appealing for Trump’s help, has insisted he will attempt to run again next year. But Brazil’s electoral court has already barred him from holding public office for spreading conspiracies about the 2022 election.

Investors and centrist party leaders have pushed him to name a successor, with many favoring Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, a former minister in Bolsonaro’s government.

Bolsonaro’s allies have pressed congressional leaders to approve legislation granting him legal amnesty. But the idea has faced opposition from the Senate and would likely be subject to constitutional challenges if it passed.