Brazil's Supreme Court began verdict deliberations Tuesday in the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, the Donald Trump ally accused of plotting a coup to retain power after he lost the 2022 election.

Justice Cristiano Zanin opened the session in Brasilia. Bolsonaro, who has won vocal support from the US president and is under house arrest, was not expected to attend the hearing.

The 70-year-old former army officer faces a prison sentence of more than four decades if convicted of conspiring to cling onto power despite losing to leftist rival and current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro and seven co-defendants, including several former ministers and generals, should learn their fate by September 12.

A guilty verdict could scupper Bolsonaro's hopes of making a spectacu

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