Brazil’s Supreme Court has mandated that former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro commence his 27-year and three-month prison sentence for orchestrating a coup following his election defeat.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled on Tuesday that the case had reached its final judgment, precluding further appeals.
Bolsonaro, 70, was convicted of leading a conspiracy designed to maintain him in power after his loss in the 2022 election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his left-wing opponent.
He will serve his sentence in a federal police jail cell in Brasília, the capital, where he has been detained since Saturday, having been deemed a flight risk and removed from house arrest.
Court documents reveal that Bolsonaro admitted at a Sunday hearing to attempting to open his ankle monitor with a soldering iron until he “came to his senses.”
He denied any intention of fleeing and attributed the damage to the monitor to medicine-induced “paranoia.”
On Tuesday, Justice Moraes stipulated that Bolsonaro receive full-time medical care, as his medical team has previously stated his health is deteriorating.
In September, Supreme Court justices, upon finding Bolsonaro guilty of plotting a coup, stated that he was aware of plans to assassinate Lula and Geraldo Alckmin, his vice-presidential running mate, and to arrest and execute Moraes, who was overseeing Bolsonaro’s trial.
The conspiracy failed to gain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1, 2023.
However, a week later, on January 8, thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília. Security forces intervened, resulting in approximately 1,500 arrests.
The justices determined that Bolsonaro incited the rioters, and his plan involved military intervention to reinstate him in power.
Bolsonaro has also been barred from holding public office until 2060, eight years after his sentence concludes.
The former president has labeled the trial a “witch hunt” aimed at preventing him from running in the 2026 presidential election.
Justice Moraes also mandated on Tuesday that others convicted of being Bolsonaro’s co-conspirators must begin serving their sentences.
This includes Gen Augusto Heleno, former minister for institutional security, and Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, former defence minister.
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