BRASÍLIA, Oct 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced seven people to up to 17 years in prison in the coup attempt led by former president Jair Bolsonaro.

In September, the high court convicted and sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Seven senior former Bolsonaro aides were also sentenced in that trial.

The case has sparked a diplomatic crisis with Washington, with US President Donald Trump accusing Brazilian authorities of a "witch hunt" against his longtime ally, imposing steep tariffs on a variety of Brazilian products.

On Tuesday, the court convicted a federal police officer, five military personnel, as well as the president of an independent electoral audit institute, for their role spreading disinformation about the electronic voting system in the vote, said Judge Alexandre de Moraes.

"They fabricated and disseminated false narratives about the electoral process with the aim of generating social chaos and instability to bring about institutional breakdown," said Moraes, who has been sanctioned by Washington over the Bolsonaro trial.

The sentences range from 7.5 to 17 years in prison, and the defendents have five days to appeal.

Bolsonaro, under house arrest since August and banned from posting on social media, is awaiting the publication of his sentence, a necessary step for his lawyers to file an appeal.

The Supreme Court will hand down sentences against 16 more defendants in the coup case in the coming weeks.