Coup trial against Bolsonaro: Lula da Silva says Donald Trump would have been prosecuted if January riots occurred in Brazil; pushes back on US judiciary criticism

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the country’s judiciary, saying that Trump would be “put on trial” if the January 6 Capitol Hill riots took place in Brazil.

“And I’ve said to President Trump: If what happened in the Capitol had happened in Brazil, he would be put on trial here in Brazil too,” Lula said, as cited by the Guardian.


This comes after, Trump spoke against the Brazil government and the judiciary over trial against former president Bolsonaro. He sanctioned Brazilian supreme court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday, alleging he is conducting a politically motivated trial against Bolsonaro.

In a significant rift currently marking the US-Brazil relations, Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports and sanctioned a supreme court judge in what appears to be a bid to help his political ally, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, who faces coup-related charges, could face up to 40 years in prison when the supreme court delivers its verdict in the upcoming weeks. Trump has denounced this as a “witch hunt” and asked Brazilian authorities to stop.

“What we are doing is something that only happens in democratic countries, judging someone based on evidence collected from witnesses and with complete presumption of innocence. This is democracy raised to the nth power … They are being judged based on the plea bargains and statements given by from people who took part in the coup attempt,” Lula said at an event at Brasília, as per the Guardian.

Lula also dismissed US criticism of Brazil’s human rights records after the state department’s annual report on Tuesday accused Lula’s government of stifling democratic debate and “suppressing the speech of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro as well as journalists and elected politicians.”

“There was really no reason to hit Brazil with tariffs and nor will we accept being told that we don’t respect human rights here in Brazil,” Lula said, adding that “every time that our American friends decide to pick a fight with someone, they try to make the people they want to fight with look like demons.”

After winning the presidential re-election, one of Trump’s first actions was to pardon more than 1,500 people linked to the Capitol attack, including 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militias. The riot sought to block the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.

In Brazil, 141 individuals are serving prison terms for their role in the January 8, 2023, right-wing riots in Brasília, allegedly linked to Bolsonaro’s coup plot.