Brazil's Bolsonaro barred from holding public office until 2030
Judges in Brazil have barred former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro from running for office for eight years.
The 7-member Brazil's federal electoral court (TSE) on Friday voted 5-2 to convict the far-right, pro-America politician for abuse of power.
He was accused of falsely claiming that the electronic voting machines used in Brazil were vulnerable to hacking and fraud.
Bolsonaro had made claims in a televised meeting with foreign diplomats in July 2022, just three months before his narrow electoral defeat to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the current Brazilian president.
Prosecutors said Bolsonaro's claims contributed to a nationwide movement to overturn the result, which culminated in the invasion of government buildings in January, by thousands of his supporters.
Bolsonaro denied any wrongdoing and called the decision a “stab in the back.”
He said he plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Justice Benedito Goncalves wrote the majority opinion in the trial. He said Bolsonaro used the meeting with ambassadors to "spread doubts and incite conspiracy theories."
Justice Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro had spread a "chain of lies and fraudulent news" in his "radical" speech to ambassadors.
Lula's team celebrated the result.
"Some important messages come from the TSE trial: lying is not a legitimate tool for exercising a public function and politics is not governed by the law of the jungle," Justice Minister Flavio Dino tweeted. "Democracy has overcome its toughest stress test in decades."
President Lula was sworn in on January 1, unleashing a barrage of rebuke against Bolsonaro, for what he called his predecessor's egregious mishandling of the country's affairs during his mandate.
Lula said he had received a ruined country, whose former government had depleted all resources and undermined human rights.
He has also accused Bolsonaro's "negationist" administration of committing "genocide" by failing to respond properly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed more than 680,000 Brazilians.
Bolsonaro fled to Florida two days before the end of his mandate, reportedly to avoid going through the ceremonial handing over of the presidential sash to Lula.
Ahead of the October 2022 Brazilian runoff election, former US president Donald Trump advised Brazilians to vote for Bolsonaro.
Trump ranted against Lula and hailed Bolsonaro. He called Bolsonaro a "great" leader and urged Brazilians to vote him in for another term.
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