On Thursday, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, made up of five justices, sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison.
Four justices voted that Bolsonaro led a plan to overturn the 2022 election, while one justice, Luiz Fux, disagreed.
Prosecutors said Bolsonaro headed an armed criminal group, tried to carry out a coup, and damaged public buildings during the 8 January 2023 riots in Brasília.
They also spoke of an unproven plan to kill newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and other leaders.
Justice Luiz Fux said there was no clear proof that Bolsonaro knew about any murder plan or tried to run a coup. He voted to acquit the former president.
Bolsonaro, now under house arrest in the capital, will not go to jail until all appeals are finished. His lawyers want the full 11-member court to review the case.
Thousands of Brazilians, including LGBTQ+ and Indigenous groups, filled the streets of Brasília and Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the ruling.
Many called the sentence a victory for democracy.
Chile’s president Gabriel Boric and Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro praised the decision.
In the United States, President Donald Trump said the verdict was surprising. His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, called the trial a “witch hunt.”
President Lula da Silva replied in a newspaper essay, saying the court had protected the rule of law and that Brazil would not trade its democracy for economic favors.