Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former President, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison on Thursday after the country’s Supreme Court convicted him of attempting a coup to stay in power despite losing in the 2022 election.

It’s not the first time Brazil has convicted a former President, but it was the first time an ex-leader in Brazil faced coup-related charges, despite the country having experienced at least 15 coups and coup attempts since the end of its monarchy in 1889.

It’s a “watershed moment in Brazil’s history,” said Chief Justice Luís Roberto Barroso after the ruling.

Bolsonaro’s verdict has driven a wedge into an already polarized Brazil. The 70-year-old far-right populist has repeatedly denied accusations that he attempted to overthrow the government, decrying the cas

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