Brazil court mulls Bolsonaro’s fate, shrugging off US ‘threats’

Brazil’s Supreme Court vowed Tuesday not to bend to pressure from Washington in deciding the fate of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, a Donald Trump ally on trial for allegedly plotting a coup.

Kicking off a five-day process of passing judgment in the final stage of the trial, presiding judge Alexandre Moraes said Bolsonaro had aimed to install a “real dictatorship”.

Bolsonaro, 70, risks a prison sentence of 43 years if convicted of conspiring to cling to power after losing 2022 elections to leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, now in office.

The trial of Bolsonaro, who claims to be the victim of political persecution, has soured Brasilia’s relations with President Trump, whose administration slapped a 50 per cent tariff on some Brazilian exports over what he termed a “witch hunt” targeting his friend.

It also imposed financial sanctions on Moraes.