Sawt Falasteen - Brazil court rejects new Bolsonaro appeal against coup conviction

Bolsonaro, 70, began serving a 27-year sentence in November after the country's highest court declared that he had exhausted all appeals.

Nevertheless, his attorneys filed an appeal on the merits of the case three days after he was jailed.

Bolsonaro's earlier failed appeal targeted "ambiguities, omissions, and contradictions" in the trial.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the trial against Bolsonaro, said he did not recognize the fresh appeal, which requires two judges to have voted against a conviction.

Four out of five judges on the Supreme Court panel voted to convict Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, a far-right firebrand who served from 2019 to 2022, was found guilty of having led a scheme to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after Bolsonaro's failed re-election bid.

He has maintained his innocence, declaring he was a victim of political persecution.

The conservative-controlled Congress this week passed a law that could reduce Bolsonaro's sentence to just over two years.

Lula has vowed to veto the law, however Congress has the last word and can override him.

O.Mousa--SF-PST