Legal woes of Brazilian presidents past and present | News

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Sept 12, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges of plotting a coup, is the latest leader of Latin America's biggest economy to face justice. Unlike his predecessors, most of whom were charged with corruption, he was found guilty of trying to subvert Brazil's democracy. Four other presidents who led Brazil since the return of democracy after the country's 1964-1985 military dictatorship have been either convicted, jailed or impeached. Brazil's first democratically elected president was forced to resign halfway through his term after Congress launched impeachment proceedings against him for allegedly taking bribes. The centre-right Collor returned to politics in 2006 as a senator, only...