BRAZIL: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s political career was in tatters on Friday as Brazil’s federal electoral court (TSE) barred the far-right nationalist from public office until 2030 for his conduct during last year’s fraught election.

Five out of seven justices voted to convict the 68-year-old Bolsonaro for abuse of power and misuse of the media over his actions in July 2022, ahead of the election, when he summoned ambassadors to vent unfounded claims about Brazil’s electronic voting system.

Their decision marks a stunning reversal for Bolsonaro, a fiery populist who narrowly lost the October vote to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Many in Brazil blame Bolsonaro for creating a nationwide movement to overturn the result, which culminated in the January 8 invasion of government buildings in Brasilia by thousands of his supporters.

The impact of the electoral court’s ruling is likely to ripple through Brazilian politics, removing Lula’s main foe from contention in 2026 and opening up space in a competitive field on Brazil’s right.

The majority opinion in the trial was written by Justice Benedito Goncalves, who said Bolsonaro used the meeting with ambassadors to “spread doubts and incite conspiracy theories.” Two conservative-leaning judges dissented.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a longtime Bolsonaro adversary who currently heads the TSE, joined the majority, saying Bolsonaro had spread a “chain of lies and fraudulent news” in his “radical” speech to ambassadors.

Lula’s team celebrated the result.

“Some important messages come from the TSE trial: lying is not a legitimate tool for exercising a public function and politics is not governed by the law of the jungle,” Justice Minister Flavio Dino tweeted. “Democracy has overcome its toughest stress test in decades.”

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have pledged to make an appeal to the Supreme Court that sources said is unlikely to succeed.

On Friday, Bolsonaro described the decision as a “stab in the back,” and said he would keep working to advance right-wing politics in Brazil. However, the TSE decision is not the end of Bolsonaro’s troubles. He still faces multiple criminal probes that could yet land him behind bars.