Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux voted on Wednesday to acquit former president Jair Bolsonaro of forming a criminal organisation and voted to annul his trial over jurisdiction, breaking with peers and raising the odds of an appeal after the final verdict this week.
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The high court still seems likely to convict Bolsonaro of plotting a coup to remain in power after he was voted out of office in 2022. Two judges on the five-judge panel have already voted to convict, and the remaining two were appointed by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.
But Fux’s vote could bolster the argument of Bolsonaro’s defence that the case should be decided by the high court’s full bench of 11 justices, including two who were appointed by the former president.
The divergence on the court adds tension to a case that has already polarised the nation and drawn thousands of Bolsonaro supporters to the streets in protest.
A lengthy appeals process would also push proceedings closer to the 2026 presidential campaign, in which Bolsonaro still insists he will be a candidate. The former president was barred from running for office in a separate case over his spreading of unfounded claims about Brazil’s electronic voting system.
The court took a recess from deliberations for lunch midway through Fux’s vote on Wednesday, before he weighed in on all of the charges against Bolsonaro.
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