SAO PAULO, Sept 17, (Xinhua):  Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro was ordered on Tuesday to pay 1 million reals (about 188,000 US dollars) in damages for racist remarks he made while in office and issue a public apology. The Federal Regional Court in the southern city of Porto Alegre made the ruling after Brazil's Supreme Federal Court on Thursday sentenced the ex-president to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup in 2022.

The latest ruling held Bolsonaro accountable for comments he made about the curly hair of a young man of African descent during a broadcast in 2021, which caused collective moral damage by eroding the values of society as a whole. In that broadcast, Bolsonaro compared a supporter's afro hairstyle to a "cockroach breeding ground" and insinuated that he had lice.

The judges in the case agreed that his remarks were racist and rejected the defense's argument that it was just a "joke." Saying the remarks had "offensive and discriminatory content toward the black population in general" and were "discrimination disguised as a joke," Judge Rogerio Fraveto argued that they go beyond freedom of expression and contribute to perpetuating the idea of "white supremacy." The ruling may be appealed at a higher court.