Conspiracies here and overseas

These are apparently bad days for former heads of state across the world. Close on the heels of the passage of a new law, stripping former Sri Lankan Presidents of their perks and privileges, came the news of ex-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro being sentenced to jail for 27 years and three months for plotting a military coup.

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A panel of five Supreme Court judges handed down the sentence immediately after convicting Bolsonaro. A dissenting judge voted to acquit him, and the former President’s lawyers have taken exception to the sentence.

The main charge against Bolsonaro is that he led a conspiracy in a bid to stay in power after losing the 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

One may recall that the UNP-led Yahapalana government claimed that defeated President Mahinda Rajapaksa had made a coup attempt to retain his hold on power after losing the presidential election in January 2015. Minister Mangala Samaraweera, and others kept on accusing Rajapaksa of having attempted to persuade the military and police chiefs to support the conspiracy so that he could stay in power, with the use of force, if necessary. The Yahapalana administration’s claim turned out to be false, and Rajapaksa made a comeback through electoral means, a few years later.