Brazil Supreme Court gives go-ahead for Bolsonaro trial over alleged 2023 coup attempt

March 27 (UPI) -- Brazil's Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, decided there is sufficient evidence to proceed with former President Jair Bolsonaro's trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the result of the 2022 presidential election.

In a unanimous vote, the five justices on the bench ruled Wednesday that the right-wing populist leader should face criminal prosecution, along with seven "co-conspirators," all former government officials, over the alleged insurrection attempt in January 2023 after he was narrowly unseated by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The court was shown footage of Bolsonaro's supporters storming federal buildings in Brasilia, including the Supreme Court building and presidential palace, and assaulting police officers, in scenes Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading the case, described as an "extraordinarily violent attempted coup d'etat."

"It was a veritable pitched battle. Untamed violence -- utter insolence. These images leave no doubt as to the materiality and the gravity of the crimes committed," Moraes added.

The prosecution case is that in the months following a run-off vote that Bolsonaro narrowly lost to Lula, the defendants cooked up plans to overthrow the result, culminating with the Jan. 8 riots a week into Lula's presidency and that they incited the mayhem allegedly to warrant an intervention by the armed forces that would restore Bolsonaro to power.

The trial was likely to start before year's end, although no date has been set, with Bolsonaro, 70, facing being sentenced to more than 40 years in prison if convicted.

Bolsonaro, who denies ever attempting to overthrow Lula, claimed on social media that he was innocent and alleged the judicial system was being weaponized to subvert democracy.

In a post on X, he said the case was politically motivated and that his trial was being rushed to prevent him from running in the next general election in October 2026.

Bolsonaro claimed that the country had descended into crisis but that when he was president, he lowered prices, created jobs and made Brazil "a magnet for global investment."

"Now, as the economy collapses, businesses shutter, and families struggle to afford basic necessities, those in power are focused on ensuring I spend the rest of my life in prison so I can never run for president again," he said.

"This is the same authoritarian playbook we've seen in Venezuela, where courts were weaponized to decide elections before a single vote was cast. The Brazilian people are being robbed of their right to choose their leader, and no country can call itself a democracy when its most popular candidate is barred from the ballot through judicial maneuvers."

Bolsonaro said everyone knew he would win were he allowed to run.

Attorney General Paulo Gonet Branco filed the criminal complaint in the court last month accusing the co-conspirators and 26 others of "acts against the Three Branches of Government and the Democratic Rule of Law."

The indictment alleges that they engaged in a coordinated attempt to subvert the 2022 election as far back as 2021, ranging from systematically spreading false claims about electronic voting machines and using security forces to block voting for the then-opposition to pressuring military officials to back the use of force to prevent the election winner from taking office, in the event Bolsonaro lost.