If one of them confirms the conviction in the first chamber of the Supreme Court, Bolsonaro and seven of his main allies will be held responsible for the violent plot that sought to overturn the 2022 elections.

The vote already has two strong votes, out of a possible five, in favor of guilty, from Justices Alexandre de Moraes and Flavio Dino.

However, an unexpected turn of events changed the situation the day before when Judge Luiz Fux, from whom a conviction was expected, surprised everyone by requesting the annulment of the proceedings, arguing that the case should be tried in the first instance and not in the Supreme Court.

He even proposed that, if the case remains in the court, it be reviewed by the full court and not by a chamber, which opened a window of uncertainty in a trial considered historic.

Fux’s position sparked immediate criticism inside and outside Parliament. Legislators from the ruling Workers’ Party accused the judge of inconsistency and of undermining the defense of democracy.

Representative Helder Salomao remembered that the judge himself, in past trials, upheld the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to prosecute President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and voted to convict nearly 400 people involved in the January 8, 2023, coup attempt.

He also emphasized that Fux maintained close ties with the controversial former judge Sergio Moro during Operation Car Wash, without ever questioning the court’s jurisdiction.

jdt/ga/ocs