Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court has delivered a 5-2 vote, barring former president Jair Bolsonaro from running for office for eight years.
The decision comes after Mr. Bolsonaro was found guilty of abusing his power during the previous presidential election campaign.
The accusations against Bolsonaro centered on his undermining of Brazilian democracy by making false claims about the vulnerability of electronic ballots to hacking and fraud. His lawyers are expected to appeal the verdict, arguing that his statements did not influence the election outcome.
The ban on Bolsonaro‘s candidacy is retroactive to October 2, 2022, the date of the presidential election. If the verdict stands, he will be ineligible to participate in the next presidential election in 2026.
However, he will have the opportunity to run again in 2030. Additionally, he will be barred from participating in the municipal elections scheduled for 2024 and 2028.
In response to the decision, Bolsonaro criticized it as a “stab in the back” and pledged to continue advancing right-wing politics in Brazil.
The case against Bolsonaro revolved around a speech he delivered while still serving as president in 2022. During this speech, he hosted foreign diplomats at his residence in Brasilia and falsely claimed that the electronic voting machines used in Brazil were susceptible to hacking and widespread fraud.
Mr Bolsonaro maintained that he “simply explained how elections work in Brazil” and did not criticise or attack the electoral system.
But the speech came amid a polarising presidential campaign which saw Mr Bolsonaro being challenged for the top job by his arch-rival, left-winger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The bitterly fought election went into a run-off on 30 October and was won by an extremely narrow margin by Lula.
Mr Bolsonaro never publicly acknowledged his defeat and left Brazil for Florida two days before Lula was sworn in as president.
His supporters, who refused to accept the outcome of the election, stormed Brazil’s Congress, the presidential palace and the building housing the Supreme Court on 8 January.