Brazil’s judiciary was again deprived of the far-right former president yesterday Tuesday Zach Bolsonaro his right to be elected, practically thwarting the plans of the former head of state (2019-2022) to contest his re-election.

According to a decision of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), he cannot be elected in any public office until 2030.

This is the second decision of this nature against the former president. In June, the court had already banned him from standing for eight years for challenging the country’s electoral system during his tenure.

Mr Bolsonaro had repeatedly disputed that the reliability of the electronic voting system in Brazil, claiming that it had allowed fraud to take place, without ever presenting any proof. Besides, he never acknowledged defeat by the center-left current president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

A few days after Lula took power, supporters of the far-right former president stormed the premises of the federal supreme court, parliament and the presidency, causing extensive property damage, in a sign of rejection of the election result.

Yesterday’s decision concerned a case of “abuse of power”, as the former president was accused of using the celebrations for the two-centenary anniversary of independence, on September 7, 2022, for electoral purposes.

The TSE ruled (5-2) that Mr Bolsonaro had indeed committed an abuse of power and disqualified him from standing for eight years and a fine of around 80,000 euros.

It also disqualified Mr Bolsonaro’s vice-presidential candidate, Walter Braga Neto, from standing, as well as a fine of around 40,000 euros.

Judge Alexander G. Morais emphasized during the proceedings that there was “irrefutable evidence of abuse of power” on the part of Messrs. Bolsonaro and Braga Neto, who “merged” their official duties with their election campaign.

At the events, the then president told thousands of his followers that they were fighting together “against evil” in Brazil, referring indirectly but clearly to Lula, his opponent in the elections.

The former president’s lawyers are expected to appeal again, so that Jáich Bolsonaro can run again in 2026.