Brazil Court Orders Bolsonaro to Serve 27-Year Sentence

Brazil's Supreme Court ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday to begin serving a 27-year prison sentence for orchestrating a coup attempt to retain power after his 2022 election defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The 70-year-old former army captain, who led the country from 2019 to 2023, had exhausted all appeals, marking the end of a years-long legal battle that has deeply divided the nation.

Bolsonaro was convicted in September on charges including attempting to subvert the democratic rule of law, leading an armed criminal organization, and participating in a conspiracy that prosecutors said involved plans to assassinate Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The plot, which federal police detailed in an 884-page report released in November 2024, relied on hopes of inciting a military uprising to block Lula's inauguration and force new elections. Military commanders ultimately refused to support the scheme, causing it to collapse.

The former president had been under house arrest since August, pending the outcome of his appeals. On Saturday, authorities detained him at federal police headquarters in Brasília after detecting that he had tampered with...