Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro was one step away from being convicted for attempting a coup, after two Supreme Court justices voted Tuesday to find the right-wing leader guilty of trying to illegally hang onto power.

Three members of the five-judge panel trying Bolsonaro's case must support a conviction, in a process that can last several days.

Two judges voted for conviction before proceedings were adjourned until Wednesday. Three more must cast their votes.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case and is considered by Bolsonaro supporters a foe, said the far-right politician who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022 was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organization, and voted in favor of convicting him.

Justice Flávio Dino also voted to convict Bolsonaro and affirming the court’s role in defending the country’s democratic institutions.

“This is not judicial activism, this is not tyranny, this is not dictatorship. On the contrary, it is the affirmation of the democracy that Brazil built upon the 1988 Constitution," said Dino.

Bolsonaro called himself the victim of a “witch hunt,” using the same expression as U.S. President Donald Trump in defending his right-wing ally.

Trump has directly tied a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods to his ally’s judicial situation and is expected to be closely watching the trial outcome.

Without quoting Trump directly, Justice Flávio Dino criticized the external political pressure and attempts to influence the court from abroad.

"Do people really believe that a tweet from a foreign authority or government will change a ruling in the Supreme Court? Does anyone really think that a credit card or Mickey Mouse will influence a Supreme Court decision?" Dino said during the session.

Proceedings were then adjourned, with court sessions scheduled every day through Friday.

Bolsonaro did not attend the court, and his lawyers declined to speak to the press on Tuesday. Judicial police officers carried assault weapons in the court room and in the nearby lobbies, in a sign of the high-profile nature of the case.

The former president is facing five counts for allegedly attempting a coup after his narrow loss to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro has always denied any wrongdoing, repeatedly calling the trial a politically motivated attack.

AP Video shot by Eduardo François