On June 22nd there was the first hearing of a trial against the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro which could make him ineligible for 8 years. The trial is held before the Supreme Electoral Court, the highest court that deals with electoral matters in Brazil, and does not concern the criminal sphere. If convicted, however, it could prevent Bolsonaro from participating in the 2026 presidential elections, in case he wanted to do so.
The former president is accused of abuse of power and spreading false information about the voting system. Last July, three months before the presidential elections then won by Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva and when he was still in office, Bolsonaro received a group of foreign diplomats at his residence in Brasilia to whom he told that the electronic system used in Brazil for voting lent itself to being tampered with to carry out fraud: according to the indictment, these declarations violated electoral law because they may have influenced voters with false information.
Bolsonaro denies the accusations and claims that he has neither criticized nor attacked the electoral system, but only that he has “explained how it works”. A simple majority among the seven judges of the Supreme Electoral Court will suffice for the former president to be convicted. His lawyer Tarcísio Vieira said that in that case the sentence would be appealed.
At today’s hearing, which was broadcast live on the channel TV Brazil, the former president did not appear. The next hearing will be on Tuesday 27 June.
Bolsonaro is currently also being investigated for a number of other criminal matters. For example, there is an investigation into his role in the assault on parliament and other institutional buildings in Brasilia by his supporters on January 8, and in particular whether he instigated them.