Lawyers for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on Monday filed an appeal seeking to reduce his 27-year prison sentence for allegedly plotting a coup to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat.
In an 85-page motion submitted to Brazil’s Supreme Court, Bolsonaro’s defense team asked for a review of key parts of the conviction, including the length of the prison term.
The filing did not specify the amount of time they want deducted but argued that the sentence contained “deep injustices” and legal inconsistencies.
Last month, four of the five justices on a Supreme Court panel voted to convict Bolsonaro of five charges, including participating in an armed criminal organization, attempting to violently abolish democracy, and organizing a coup.
One justice, Luiz Fux, dissented, voting to acquit.
Under Brazilian law, defendants convicted by the Supreme Court can request an appeal only if at least two justices dissent.
With just one opposing vote, Bolsonaro’s lawyers filed a more limited “motion of clarification,” which allows for the review of procedural errors or ambiguous points in the ruling.
“It should be noted that this motion of clarification is the only possibility of correcting errors that would otherwise become definitive,” the defense team wrote, claiming that convicting Bolsonaro of both organizing a coup and attempting to violently abolish democracy amounted to a “duplication of penalties.”
Bolsonaro, who has consistently denied wrongdoing, has been under house arrest since August for allegedly seeking the interference of U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports and sanctioned the judge overseeing the case.
The Supreme Court is expected to vote on Bolsonaro’s appeal in November. The former president will not begin serving his sentence until all appeals are exhausted, though the case remains one of the most politically charged in Brazil’s modern history.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
