The chronology of the Bolsonaro trial, now convicted of attempted coup d'état

In the aftermath of the former Brazilian president's conviction, the Lusa news agency traces the chronology of the intricate process that began when Jair Bolsonaro lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the presidential elections by 1.8 percentage points, the smallest difference in history between two candidates.

October 30, 2022: Bolsonaro loses the second round of the presidential elections but Bolsonaro does not recognize the results.

After the elections, there were roadblocks by truck drivers, camps of 'Bolsonaristas' in front of barracks calling for military intervention, and serious riots in Brasília, including an attempted bomb attack near the Brazilian capital's airport.

During this period, the then Brazilian President, at the Palácio da Alvorada (official presidential residence), received, read and modified a decree, together with members of his leadership, to declare a state of siege, reverse Lula da Silva's electoral victory and arrest a series of authorities, including some Supreme Court judges.

The plan involved the intervention of the electoral court, the annulment of the elections and the installation of a “military committee”, which would keep Bolsonaro in power and also a possible plan to assassinate Lula da Silva, the Vice President, Geraldo Alckmin, and Judge Alexandre de Moraes.

December 30, 2022: The former head of state travels to the United States, on the eve of Lula da Silva's inauguration.

January 8, 2023: While the new Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, was outside Brasília visiting the city of Araraquara, in the state of São Paulo, which had been hit by torrential rains, a group of radicals, supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, influenced by months of misinformation about electronic voting machines and fear of communism, invaded and attacked the Planalto Palace, Congress and the Supreme Federal Court.

The attack in Brasilia was similar to one that occurred in the United States by supporters of then-former President Donald Trump, who was defeated at the polls, before the inauguration of US President Joe Biden on January 6, 2021.

January 10, 2023: The Federal Police (PF) found in the home of former Justice Minister Anderson Torres (also convicted today) a draft of a decree to establish a state of defense in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and change the result of the presidential elections.

March 30, 2023: The former President returns to Brazil, after three months at a friend's house in Florida.

May 3, 2023: Police search Bolsonaro's residence to investigate an alleged forgery of his COVID-19 vaccination certificate. The former president's personal aide, Mauro Cid, is arrested in connection with the case.

June 30, 2023: Judges of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) concluded the trial that prevents former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro from running for political office for the next eight years.

The former Brazilian head of state was convicted of abuse of political power and misuse of the media after holding a meeting with foreign ambassadors during the presidential campaign he ran for, and lost, to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

September 7, 2023: Bolsonaro's former advisor Mauro Cid reaches a plea bargain with the police and would become one of the pillars of the accusation against the former head of state in the case of an attempted coup d'état.

February 8, 2024: The Federal Police search Bolsonaro's homes as part of the investigation into an attempted coup d'état and indicate that the former President received and adjusted a draft decree to carry out a coup d'état that included the arrest of judges, the leader of the Senate, and new elections.

The Supreme Court orders the surrender of his passport and prohibits him from communicating with other suspects.

On that same day, 33 search and seizure warrants, four preventive arrest warrants and 48 precautionary measures were served.

November 21, 2024: The Brazilian Federal Police indicts 37 people for the crimes of violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d'état and criminal organization, including former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The Federal Police also details that the evidence was obtained “over almost two years, based on the breaking of telematic, telephone, banking, and tax confidentiality, plea bargains, searches and seizures.”

According to the final report sent to the Supreme Federal Court, the defendants organized themselves and divided tasks to carry out crimes of violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law and coup d'état, "which allowed for the individualization of conduct."

February 19, 2025: The Public Prosecutor's Office files a complaint against the former President and 33 other people for attempted coup d'état after the 2022 elections. Bolsonaro is accused of "leading" a conspiracy that included a plan to assassinate Lula da Silva and other officials.

March 18, 2025: Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of the former President's sons, claims to have moved to the United States to pressure the White House, lobby on his father's behalf and to get Washington to apply sanctions to Supreme Court judges.

March 26, 2025: The panel of five judges that forms the First Chamber of the Supreme Court unanimously accepts the accusation against Bolsonaro, former ministers and high-ranking military commanders, responding for attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, attempted coup d'état, participation in an armed criminal organization, qualified damage and deterioration of property.

June 10, 2025: Bolsonaro is questioned in the First Chamber of the Supreme Court and guarantees that he has never had any discussions about coups d'état, but admits to conversations "within the Constitution" to review the results of the polls after his defeat in the 2022 elections against Lula da Silva.

"The conversations were quite informal; there was no proposal, 'let's decide.' It was an informal conversation to see if there was any possibility of a constitutional provision to achieve the objective that was not achieved in the Superior Electoral Court. This was discarded in the second meeting," Bolsonaro told Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the reporting judge on the case.

July 7, 2025: US President Donald Trump announces the imposition of 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports and cites the “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.

July 15, 2025: Brazilian Attorney General Paulo Gonet asks the Supreme Court, in his closing arguments, to convict the former President for attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, attempted coup d'état, participation in an armed criminal organization, qualified damage and deterioration of property.

July 18, 2025: Judge Alexandre de Moraes imposes precautionary measures against Bolsonaro for coercion and obstruction of justice and “attack on national sovereignty,” following Trump's sanctions.

The measures include the use of an electronic bracelet, a ban on accessing social media, approaching embassies or communicating with other defendants, including his son Eduardo.

August 3, 2025: Bolsonaro participates, via videoconference, in one of the demonstrations called by supporters to protest his trial.

August 4, 2025: The Supreme Court orders the former President to be placed under house arrest, considering that he had violated the precautionary measures previously imposed.

August 15, 2025 : The president of the First Chamber of the STF, Cristiano Zanin, sets September 2 as the start date for the trial of the former Brazilian President and seven other allies accused of leading an attempted coup d'état.