Former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro banned from running for office for eight years for campaign abuses
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolosonaro has been barred from running for re-election for eight years for his conduct in last year’s election.
Four of the seven judges on the nation’s highest electoral court agreed that the right-wing leader had abused his authority by using government communication channels to promote his campaign and undermining public confidence about the vote.
The former president, who lost to left-wing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was accused of attempting to overturn the election result in a campaign that culminated in the 8 January invasion of government buildings in Brasilia by thousands of his supporters.
Mr Bolsonaro denied the charges. “I have not attacked the voting system; I just showed its possible flaws,” he said on Friday before the ruling.
The 68-year-old, an ally of former US President Donald Trump during his term in office, has the option of appealing to the Supreme Court. But analysts suggested his political career at the highest level may be finished.
“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.”
With additional reporting from agencies
