Brazil's top electoral court, the TSE, has achieved a majority vote to bar former President Jair Bolsonaro from holding public office until 2030 due to his actions during the previous presidential campaign, DW reports.
Out of the seven judges on the TSE, five voted in favor of suspending Bolsonaro, while two opposed the decision. Bolsonaro expressed his discontent, labeling the ruling as a "stab in the back," and announced his plans to appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.
The accusations against Bolsonaro revolve around his alleged involvement in a movement aimed at overturning the narrow election defeat he suffered to his leftist rival, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, in October. Bolsonaro's campaign reached its peak when thousands of his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia on January 8. Although Bolsonaro was in Florida at the time, prosecutors link his prior comments about the election to the actions of his supporters.
Of particular concern was a meeting in July before the vote, during which Bolsonaro convened foreign ambassadors to propagate baseless claims about Brazil's voting machines being susceptible to fraud. This campaign undermined the election and cast doubt on the legitimacy of his defeat, bearing similarities to the tactics employed by Donald Trump following his own election loss in the United States.
The presiding justice in the case, Benedito Goncalves, previously voted to render the former army captain ineligible for political office for eight years, asserting that Bolsonaro had used the ambassadorial meeting to disseminate uncertainty and incite conspiracy theories ahead of the vote.
While Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing and intends to appeal the ruling, he has encountered other legal challenges. He faces five investigations in the Supreme Court, including allegations of instigating the January 8 attacks. Brazilian federal police are also looking into claims that an aide forged a COVID immunization certificate for the vaccine-skeptical Bolsonaro and that Bolsonaro attempted to illegally import jewelry worth millions, which was gifted to his wife by Saudi Arabia in 2021.
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