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

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.

"The charges are very serious," Lula told a radio interview. "If proven, the only way is for him and others involved to be arrested. Obviously, they will have the right to defense, but if proven, there is no other solution than to convict them."