It was a big day in Brazil’s political arena. Jair Bolsonaro, the nation’s former president, has been convicted for trying to stage a coup. This major decision came down this Thursday. Judge Carmen Lúcia cast the final, crucial vote.
The path to this ruling began earlier in the week. On Tuesday, two other judges, Alexandre de Moraes and Flávio Dino, already voted for conviction. They agreed that all involved defendants should be found guilty. With Judge Carmen Lúcia’s vote today, that makes three votes against the former president. This tally means a majority has now formed to convict Bolsonaro.
However, not all judges agreed with this outcome. Judge Luis Fux was the sole voice pushing for Bolsonaro to be cleared of all charges. There’s still one vote left to count, belonging to Judge Cristiano Zanin. Once his decision is known, then, and only then, will the penalties for each defendant finally be revealed.
