BRAZIL’S Supreme Court has begun deciding whether to convict defendants accused of storming top government offices on January 8 in an alleged bid to restore former president Jair Bolsonaro to power by force.

Aecio Lucio Costa Pereira was the first to have his case heard on Wednesday.

In January, cameras at the Senate filmed him wearing a shirt calling for a military coup and recording a video of himself praising others who had also broken into the building. 

Almost 1,500 people were detained on the day of the riots, though most have been released.

Mr Pereira denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he had taken part in a peaceful demonstration by unarmed people.

The two first justices to rule both found that the supporter of the former president was guilty. 

Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur of the Supreme Court case, ruled that Mr Pereira was guilty of five crimes and set his sentence at 17 years in jail.

However, fellow judge Kassio Nunes Marques ruled the defendant should be jailed for two crimes, which would put him behind bars for just two years and six months. 

Mr Nunes Marques, who was appointed by Mr Bolsonaro, claimed that there was insufficient evidence to jail Mr Pereira for the crimes of criminal association, launching a coup d’etat or violent attack on the rule of law.

The trial was adjourned until today.

Three other defendants in the the same case also stood trial on Wednesday, but it could take days for a final decision on each one.

The rioters refused to accept the far-right leader’s defeat by left-wing challenger Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva. 

The buildings of Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace were damaged by the pro-Bolsonaro rioters, who climbed onto roofs, smashed windows and invaded all three, which were largely vacant during the incident.

Lula has accused Mr Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.