Brazil's Lula says Bolsonaro should be convicted if charges prove true

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a press conference at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that if charges against his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro in a 2022 coup plot are proven true, he should be imprisoned.

Bolsonaro earlier this week was charged by Brazil's top prosecutor with leading a "criminal organization" aiming to overthrow the country's democracy after he lost the 2022 election to Lula, whom they planned to poison.