Others sentenced in case that could send Bolsonaro allies to prison for up to 17 years

Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced seven people to prison terms ranging from 7½ to 17 years for their involvement in what judges called an “attempted coup” that took place after the 2022 elections, when then-President Jair Bolsonaro faced leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Those sentenced — including a federal police officer, five military officers and the head of an electoral auditing institute — were found guilty of taking part in an alleged network that spread false information about the electronic voting system and promoted actions to destabilize institutional order, AFP reported.

"They fabricated and disseminated false narratives about the electoral process with the aim of generating social chaos and instability to concretize the institutional rupture," said pro-government judge Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur in the case.

Previous convictions and pending appeals

The ruling comes a month after the Supreme Court sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro, 70, to more than 27 years in prison, finding him responsible for allegedly "leading an armed criminal organization to stay in power."

Seven other former members of his inner circle were also convicted in that case.

The court has 60 days to publish the full ruling, after which the defense will have five days to appeal. Bolsonaro, under house arrest since August and barred from using social media, is awaiting the formal release of his sentence so his lawyers can file the necessary appeals.

His defense has said it will appeal the ruling and maintains that the former president had no direct role in the acts under investigation.

The former Brazilian president also remains politically disqualified until 2030, after the Superior Electoral Court ruled him responsible for his baseless attacks on the voting system.