'The Difference Between the Coup Plotters Who Are Held to Account and Those Who Aren't'

"Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction on Sept. 11, 2025, puts the former Brazilian president in a rogues’ gallery of failed coup plotters to be held to account for their attempted power grab."

"As political scientists who have documented the fate of hundreds of coup leaders in the book 'Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups D’état,' we have collected a dataset of every coup attempt since the end of World War II. Bolsonaro is now one of thousands of coup plotters who have been brought to justice."

"The most common fate of failed self-coup leaders in democracies is impeachment and removal from office, as occurred to Indonesia’s Abdurrahman Wahid in July 2001, Ecuador’s Lucio Gutiérrez in April 2005, Peru’s Pedro Castillo in December 2022, and South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol in April 2025."

"Still, it could have been worse — failed coupmakers are often punished outside of independent courts, where the penalty is often more severe. Coup plotters have been summarily executed or sentenced to death by a military tribunal or a 'people’s court.' The longtime Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko executed over a dozen junior officers and civilians after his government uncovered an alleged coup plot in 1978."

Continued at link:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/jair-bolsonaro-donald-trump-coup-plotters