Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been banned from running for political office until 2030. On Friday (June 30), an electoral court made the ruling based on what they considered an abuse of power and false claims he made that his country’s electronic voting system is rigged.
“This decision will end Bolsonaro’s chances of being president again, and he knows it,” Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo, told the Associated Press. “After this, he will try to stay out of jail, elect some of his allies to keep his political capital, but it is very unlikely he will ever return to the presidency.”
According to the AP, the five-judge court voted 3-2 to prohibit Bolsonaro from seeking reelection. He served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2022. Although he won the presidential election, he maintained that hackers attempted to steal the election from him. On July 18, 2022, Bolsonaro met with foreign ambassadors at the presidential palace in Brasilia and told them of his conspiracy theories.
Judge Carmen Lucia said the facts in the case were “incontrovertible” and voted on the ban. “The meeting did take place,” Lucia said. “It was convened by the then-president. Its content is available. It was examined by everyone, and there was never a denial that it did happen.”
Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the court’s decision was a rejection of “populism reborn from the flames of hateful, antidemocratic speech that promotes heinous disinformation.” And Judge Benedito Gonçalve voted against Bolsonaro for his “appalling lies.”
Bolsonaro called his trial unfair and politically motivated. “We’re going to talk with the lawyers,” he said. “Life goes on. It’s a rather difficult moment.”
