Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced a first defendant to 17 years in prison Thursday for his role in January’s invasion of the presidential palace, Congress and high court itself by supporters of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.
The court’s 11 justices ruled unanimously to convict 51-year-old Aecio Pereira, with a majority finding he had committed serious crimes including an attempted coup when he stormed the floor of the Senate on January 8, as thousands of Bolsonaro supporters rioted in a bid to oust leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
