A woman holds a sign that reads ""Presão para Bolsonaro!"!" On January 8, 2024, a demonstration was held in São Paulo to commemorate the first anniversary of the attempted coup in Brasília. Photo: Elineudo Meira/@fotografia.75.
By Brasil de Fato – Sept 11, 2025
For the first time in Brazil’s history, high-ranking military officers are held accountable for attacking democracy
On the afternoon of Thursday, September 11, Supreme Court Minister Cármen Lúcia cast the vote to cement the majority decision to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven other allies accused of coup plot.
In her vote, the minister stated that “Jair Messias Bolsonaro committed the crimes with which he is charged as the leader of a criminal organization. He was not swept up into the insurgency. He is the instigator, he is the leader of an organization that promoted all forms of coordination aligned with the goal of maintaining or seizing power.”
She continued: “There is clear evidence that the group led by Jair Messias Bolsonaro and composed of key figures in the government developed and implemented a progressive and systematic plan to attack democratic institutions with the aim of undermining the legitimate alternation of power in the 2022 elections and undermining the free exercise of other constitutional powers, especially the judiciary.”
After a dissenting vote presented by Minister Luiz Fux, of the First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court, in a vote that lasted almost 14 hours on Wednesday, September 10, the minister was the third to vote and highlighted the evidence of the formation of a criminal organization involving the “crucial nucleus” of the attempted coup d’état in Brazil. Thus, the necessary majority was formed to hold them criminally responsible for the crimes pointed out by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
“The attempt to seize power through a conspiracy that targets the heart of the Republic with its laws and customs and destroys them. This setup is necessary, a dynamic that is not created overnight, but is prepared, called the coup machine, and extends until the right moment arrives. One cannot separate one thing from the other, because if separated, it would have another connotation or another framework, including legal or criminal,” she stated in her vote.
“When dealing with the criminal organization, I conclude exactly because of its proof in this case, as the Attorney General denounced, proved, and reaffirmed in his closing arguments,” she declared. The minister also stated that the attempt to seize power through a conspiracy, preceded by acts that culminated on January 8, can be considered the “coup machine.”
“This setup is necessary, a dynamic that is not created overnight, but that is prepared, which is what Professor Heloísa calls the coup machine, and which extends until the right moment arrives. One cannot separate one thing from the other, because if separated, it would have another connotation or another framework, including legal or criminal,” she assessed.
In contrast to Minister Luiz Fux’s vote on Wednesday, September 10, the magistrate said that the STF has a historic commitment to perform its role of judging in accordance with fundamental rights. Early in her reading, she also emphasized that the trial is the “meeting of Brazil’s past, present, and future.”
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“Every criminal action, especially criminal action, requires a fair trial. And here it is no different. What is unprecedented, perhaps, is that this action is what makes Brazil hurt,” she added.
During the vote, Justices Flávio Dino and Alexandre de Moraes asked to speak. Moraes then showed some videos proving the attempts to undermine the democratic process and the repeated offenses against members and decisions of the STF. In one of the videos, Bolsonaro, in a sound car, calls Moraes a “scoundrel” and says he will no longer respect court decisions. In another, scenes of the destruction of the Three Powers buildings on January 8, 2023, were shown and commented on by the minister as further proof that, yes, crimes were systematically committed over a long period.
Formally, therefore, the eight defendants are convicted of the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, damage qualified by violence and serious threat, and deterioration of listed heritage.
With the exception of the former director of Abin and current federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem, who had the last two charges suspended by decision of the Chamber of Deputies, as they were directly related to the anti-democratic acts of January 8, 2023, when the former director of Abin had already been certified for the position of federal deputy.
Minister Cristiano Zanin, president of the five-judge Panel, has yet to vote. After the votes are cast, the ministers will need to determine the severity of the punishment on an individual basis, applying the sanction according to the level of participation of the individual in the criminal actions.
