Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro's political career is in tatters, with him having been barred from public office for eight years.
A panel of judges voted to make the far-right politician ineligible after concluding that he abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system.
Four of the seven judges on the nation's highest electoral court agreed that Bolsonaro, 68, abused his authority by using government communication channels to promote his campaign and sowing doubts about the vote when he summoned ambassadors to vent unfounded claims about the electronic voting system. One judge voted against the ruling, with two judges still to vote.
The lead justice in the case, Benedito Goncalves, voted earlier this week to make the former president ineligible, saying he had "used the meeting with ambassadors to spread doubts and incite conspiracy theories." The former president will only be able to seek elected office again in 2030 – when he is 75
The comments came amid a polarising presidential campaign last year, which saw Mr Bolsonaro being challenged for the top job by his arch-rival, left-winger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. It was election that Mr Lula won by a narrow margin. Bolsanaro's 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.
Mr Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing and has already said he plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.
"I have not attacked the voting system; I just showed its possible flaws... This trial doesn't make any sense," Mr Bolsonaro said in an interview with the Itatiaia radio station on Friday, before the judgment.
"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."
The case focused on a 18 July, 2022, meeting where Mr Bolsonaro used government staffers, the state television channel and the presidential palace in Brasilia to suggest foreign ambassadors that the country's electronic voting system was rigged.
"Bolsonaro abused the powers of his office by calling the meeting: check. He used government staff and buildings with an electoral objective: check. And he mixed the country's interests with those of his campaign: check," said Marlon Reis, an electoral law expert who helped draft the ineligibility provisions.
Speaking on Thursday to reporters in Brasilia, Mr Bolsonaro had been defiant. "This is an injustice against me, my God in heaven! Show me something concrete I have done against democracy," he said. "Perhaps my crime was doing the right thing for four years."
In an interview earlier this week, Mr Bolsonaro recognized that his chances of prevailing were slim. The ruling will remove him from the 2024 and 2028 municipal elections as well as the 2026 general elections. Future criminal convictions could extend his ban by years and subject him to imprisonment.
Former President Fernando Collor de Mello and current President Lula were declared ineligible in the past, but Mr Bolsonaro's case marks the first time a president has been suspended for election violations rather than a criminal offense. Brazilian law forbids candidates with criminal sentences from running for office.
Mr Lula's eligibility was reinstated by Brazil's top court following rulings that then-judge and now Senator Sergio Moro was biased when he sentenced the leftist leader to almost 10 years in prison for corruption and money laundering.
Speaking before the court's vote, legislator Carlos Jordy, a staunch Bolsonaro ally, said the former president still expected "a drastic change" from the court. However, Mr Jordy said he was already contemplating a future without Mr Bolsonaro as the standard-bearer of right-wing Brazilian politics.
"Even if they commit this injustice, which has no precedent at the electoral court, Bolsonaro remains Brazil's biggest political figure," Jordy said.
Mr Bolsonaro holds a ceremonial leadership role within his Liberal Party and has traveled around Brazil criticising Mr Lula
The trial has reenergized Mr Bolsonaro's base online, with supporters claiming he is victim of an unfair judicial system and comparing his fate to that of former US President Donald Trump, according to Marie Santini, coordinator of NetLab, a research group at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro that monitors social media.
This week, his supporters showed their support with contributions to help him pay 1.1 million reais (£180,000) in fines levied by Sao Paulo state's government for Bolsonaro's repeated violations of health protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Bolsonaro does not risk jail in the electoral case, although the former leader is separately facing multiple criminal investigations, including into claims he deliberately incited the 8 January riots.
While Mr Bolsonaro aims to be the right's kingmaker, and his endorsement will carry significant heft, his decision to decamp to Florida for several weeks at the start of Mr Lula's term weakened him, said Thomas Traumann, a political analyst. That is reflected by the limited right-wing outrage on social media throughout the eligibility trial, and no sign of protests.
"There won't be a mass movement, because he diminished in size. The fact that he went to Florida and didn't lead the opposition caused him to diminish in size," Mr Traumann said. "The leader of the opposition is clearly not Bolsonaro."
Associated Press
