Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro commenced his 27-year imprisonment on Tuesday for orchestrating a coup to retain power after losing the 2022 presidential election, a development that many in Brazil had doubted would materialize. Justice Alexandre de Moraes directed Bolsonaro’s confinement at Brazil’s Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia, where he had been held since Saturday after reportedly tampering with his ankle monitor using a soldering iron.
Bolsonaro is isolated from other detainees at the federal police headquarters, residing in a 12-square-meter room equipped with essential amenities such as a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a television, and a desk. Under Brazilian criminal law, the 70-year-old could have been relocated to a local penitentiary or a prison cell in a military facility in Brasilia.
Following his defeat in the 2022 election, Bolsonaro and his associates were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court judges for plotting against Brazil’s democratic system. The scheme involved a plot to assassinate President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Justice de Moraes, alongside inciting an insurrection in early 2023. Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading an armed criminal group and attempting to subvert the rule of law through violence.
Despite his denial of any wrongdoing, Bolsonaro’s appeals were exhausted, and the Supreme Court officially concluded his coup-related case on Tuesday, upholding the guilty verdict. The former president, a significant political figure in Brazil, is currently ineligible to run for office until 2030 following a separate ruling by Brazil’s top electoral court. Polls indicate he would be a strong contender if permitted to run in the upcoming election.
Bolsonaro, a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, faced house arrest in Brasilia for over 100 days before his recent detention, stemming from allegations that he solicited Trump’s intervention to obstruct legal proceedings against him. Relations between Brazil and the U.S. improved subsequently, with meetings between Trump and Lula during the ASEAN summit in Malaysia resulting in the reduction of heightened tariffs.
