'Let justice be served'

PRESIDENT: 'BOLSONARO KNOWS HE TRIED TO ASSASSINATE ME'

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Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday he hopes "justice is served" to far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro, who will stand trial on charges of plotting a coup.

The country's Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to put Bolsonaro on trial in a case that could torpedo his hopes of making a Donald Trump-style political comeback.

It will be the first trial of an ex-leader accused of attempting to take power by force since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985, following two decades of military dictatorship.

Bolsonaro was not in court for the unanimous ruling by the five-judge panel, but in comments to reporters he slammed the allegations as "unfounded".

"It seems they have something personal against me," he said.

If convicted, the 70-year-old former army captain, who had nurtured hopes of standing in elections next year, risks a jail term of more than 40 years and political banishment.