Bolsonaro Appeals 27-Year Sentence as Trump Calls Case ‘Witch-Hunt’

Lawyers for Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro have filed an appeal against his 27-year prison sentence for orchestrating what judges called an attempted military coup following his 2022 election defeat.

The 85-page motion, submitted to Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday, challenges parts of the conviction and seeks a review of the sentence. It does not specify how much of a reduction Bolsonaro’s defense is aiming for but argues that there were “deep injustices” in the ruling.

Bolsonaro was found guilty in September of five crimes, including attempting to violently abolish democracy, leading an armed criminal organization, and organizing a coup to prevent left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office.

Prosecutors said the former president’s plan included the assassination of Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The coup attempt ultimately collapsed when the military refused to back it, though Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in scenes eerily reminiscent of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The case has strained relations between Brasília and Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime ally and admirer of Bolsonaro, denounced the conviction as a “witch-hunt” and used it to justify new tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian officials in July.

Bolsonaro, 70, remains under house arrest and continues to deny wrongdoing. Under Brazilian law, he will not be imprisoned until all appeals are exhausted.

Only one of the five judges on the Supreme Court panel dissented from the original verdict. Because two dissents are typically needed to reopen a full appeal, Bolsonaro’s team instead filed what’s known as a “clarification motion,” a procedural attempt to seek minor changes or clarify inconsistencies in the judgment.

If the appeal fails, Bolsonaro could petition to serve his time under house arrest due to medical concerns. The former president, who has faced a string of health problems since leaving office, was recently diagnosed with skin cancer and briefly hospitalized last month.