Fux was seen by the Brazilian right as one of the judges who could be misaligned with the accusation
The family of Jair Bolsonaro and figures to ‘Bolsonarism’ celebrated the vote of Judge Luiz Fux, who called for the acquittal of the former Brazilian president, in a trial for alleged attempted coup.
“Fux’s vote enters history by dismantling the false narrative of coup and exposing the persecution against Bolsonaro,” Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president, wrote on social networks, who is under house arrest and did not attend the trial.
Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is in the United States to do lobby with the US administration for the White House to exercise pressure from Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF), has also appealed to social networks saying that Donald Trump counselors are “closely following Bolsonaro’s inquisition.”
The federal deputy praised the decisions of Fux, which acquitted his father of crimes of armed criminal organization, violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup, qualified damage and deterioration of heritage.
Pastor Silas Malafaia, leader of the Assembly of God Victory in Christ, responsible for summoning the latest demonstrations in defense of the amnesty to all convicted and accused of coup attempt shared a video in which Fux considered “rocked the scam of Alexandre de Moraes coup.” [juiz relator do processo].
Fux was seen by the Brazilian right as one of the judges who could be misaligned with the accusation. In July 2025, the US government, under the administration of Donald Trump, imposed sanctions on eight of the 11 judges that make up the Supreme Court Plenary (STF) of Brazil.
The only one of the judges of the First Class of the STF that did not suffer sanctions was Luiz Fux.
In addition to Jair Bolsonaro, Fux also acquitted five other defendants of all charges on Wednesday.
He only supported the condemnation of former Bolsonaro advisor and now a whistleblower, Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, and former Minister Walter Braga Netto for the attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, acquitting them of other crimes.
Early in the session, Fux called for the “annulment of the case by absolute incompetence” of the First Class of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in judging the former Brazilian president, considering that the trial should be carried out in the first instance and not in the highest court of the country.
After the votes on the previous day of the Rapporteur Judge, Alexandre de Moraes, and Judge Flávio Dino, who voted for the conviction of Bolsonaro and the other seven defendants of all crimes, Luiz Fux supported the theses of the former president’s defense and was against the arguments of Moraes, and the prosecutor, who accused “some inconsistency”, to expose “conjectures” and not to have enough evidence.
“As the narrative advances, and so far continues, there is no evidence that sustains,” he said, adding that he did not observe the attempt of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law because the facts narrated by the Attorney’s Office did not represent a “real danger.”
In addition, Fux argued that the crime of coup d’état is not configured because, at the date of the events, Bolsonaro was the president (2019-2022) and the “AutoGolpe” is not provided for in the legislation.
Now the votes of the judges Cármen Lúcia and Cristiano Zanin, scheduled for today. It is enough for one of the two to vote for the conviction to result in a majority of votes and the conviction of Jair Bolsonaro.
In case of conviction, for which a majority of at least three votes is required, entry into prison will not be automatic, as there is still margin for some resources.
After the publication of the judgment, the defense and prosecution may file an embargoes of declaration within five days to correct any contradictions or omissions.
If the decision is not unanimous (3 to 2, with at least two votes for acquittal), the defense may also appeal through infringing embargoes, which lead the divergent matter to the STF plenary, which has 11 judges.
Today’s session, which was expected to start at 09:00 local (13:00 in Lisbon), was rescheduled for 14:00 (18:00 in Lisbon) as the argument of Luiz Fux’s vote took more than 13 hours and extended until around 23:00.
