Bolsonaro to face trial for alleged coup attempt, Brazil's top court rules

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for allegedly orchestrating a violent plot to seize power through a military coup after the country's supreme court decided he should face criminal prosecution.

- Tom Phillips

The ruling leaves the far-right populist, who governed Brazil from 2019 until the end of 2022, facing political oblivion and a possible jail sentence of more than 40 years.

The supreme court decided that seven other close allies of the ex-president should also stand trial for crimes including involvement in an armed criminal organisation, coup d'état and violently attempting to abolish Brazilian democracy.

They are: Bolsonaro's former defense ministers Gen Walter Braga Netto and Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; his former navy commander, Adm Almir Garnier Santos; his former security minister, Anderson Torres; his former spy chief, Alexandre Ramagem; his former minister for institutional security, Gen Augusto Heleno; and his former assistant, Lt Col Mauro Cid, who, if convicted, will receive a lighter sentence after he struck a plea deal with prosecutors.