Controversial former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been banned from running for office for eight years after a panel of judges found he abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.
The right wing politician was found guilty of abusing his power ahead of last year’s presidential election, in which he lost to now President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Five judges from Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court agreed that Mr Bolsonaro abused his authority by using government communication channels to promote his campaign and sowing doubts about the vote. Two judges voted against.
“This decision will end Bolsonaro’s chances of being president again, and he knows it,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “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.”
He has been accused of undermining Brazilian democracy by falsely claiming that the electronic ballots used were vulnerable to hacking and fraud.
Mr Bolsonaro’s lawyers are expected to appeal against the verdict, that removes him from the 2024 and 2028 municipal elections as well as the 2026 general elections.
They have argued that his statements had no bearing on the election result.
