Brazil's Supreme Court vowed Tuesday not to bend to pressure from Washington in deciding the fate of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump who is on trial for allegedly plotting a coup.

Kicking off a five-day process of passing judgment in the final stage of the trial, presiding judge Alexandre Moraes said Bolsonaro had aimed to install a "real dictatorship."

Bolsonaro, 70, risks a prison sentence of 43 years if convicted of conspiring to cling to power after losing the 2022 elections to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, now in office.