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A Brazilian man, Nelson Ribeiro Fonseca Junior, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for his role in the 2023 riots in Brasília, which included the theft of a football signed by Neymar from the National Congress.
Ribeiro, 34, was convicted by the country’s Supreme Court on Monday night on multiple charges, including the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, armed criminal association, attempted coup, and theft of the autographed ball.
The court found that he had taken an active part in the storming of Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court.
The ball, signed by Neymar and donated to Congress in 2012 by his former club Santos, was on display in a hallway when it was taken during the riot.
Ribeiro later admitted to taking the ball, but his defence team argued that he had merely picked it up from the floor to protect it and turned it over to police nearly three weeks later.
However, Justice Alexandre de Moraes dismissed that defence, describing the ball as a piece of public property and part of Brazil’s national heritage.
The incident occurred on January 8, 2023, when thousands of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in protest at his narrow election defeat to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The rioters demanded military intervention to overturn the results just one week after Lula’s inauguration.
Ribeiro is one of more than 500 individuals who have been convicted for their involvement in the attempted insurrection. Authorities maintain that the attack was fuelled by Bolsonaro’s repeated allegations of election fraud.
Although Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time of the riots, prosecutors allege that he helped orchestrate a plan to seize power in the event of Lula’s victory. They argue the plot collapsed due to a lack of military support.
Bolsonaro, who governed from 2019 to 2022, has denied all charges and is currently facing trial over the alleged coup attempt.
