Brazil Supreme Court Jails Military Officers for Plot to Assassinate President Lula and Overturn Election

Brazil’s Supreme Court has handed down prison sentences of up to 24 years to several senior military officers and a federal police agent for plotting to kill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and orchestrate a violent coup attempt aimed at overturning the 2022 election.

The decision, delivered by a four-member panel of justices on Tuesday, is the latest chapter in a sweeping investigation into an alleged criminal network led by former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was defeated by Lula in 2022.

According to the court, the convicted officials belonged to a second layer of Bolsonaro’s network — those tasked with planning and executing violent actions, including assassination attempts targeting Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Of the ten defendants in this group, nine were serving or retired high-ranking military officers. One was a federal police officer.

The panel unanimously convicted nine, acquitting one retired general due to lack of evidence.

Seven of the convicted men were found guilty of attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, attempted coup, participation in an armed criminal organization, and aggravated damage to public property.
Two others received lighter convictions for criminal association and inciting hostility between the Armed Forces and constitutional authorities.

Sentences ranged from 1 year and 11 months to 24 years, with four of the defendants receiving prison terms exceeding two decades.

Justice Flávio Dino, casting his vote, condemned what he described as a deliberate plan to drag Brazil into “institutional darkness,” invoking memories of the country’s 1964–1985 military dictatorship.

“It wasn’t just a walk in the park. It was a coup that was going to arrest and kill people, revoke the constitution, citizenship and the free press,”
he said, adding that the plans were found in seized documents.

Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet previously revealed evidence that a federal police officer infiltrated Lula’s security detail while he was president-elect — allegedly to facilitate the assassination plot.

Justice Moraes, who oversees the case, said the broader coup plan collapsed only because the Army commander at the time refused to back it.

Bolsonaro was himself sentenced in September to 27 years and three months for leading the organization behind the attempted coup. He remains under house arrest while his legal team pursues further appeals. The Supreme Court recently rejected one appeal, but another challenge is expected this week.

The former president’s case strained US-Brazil relations after then-US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports, describing Bolsonaro’s prosecution as a “witch hunt.” Relations have since improved following a meeting between Lula and Trump at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.

Convicted officials will not begin serving their sentences until all appeals are exhausted.