Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro (AP)
Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, 70, was ordered Tuesday by the Supreme Court to begin serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a failed coup to block Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections. Bolsonaro, who once reshaped Brazil’s politics and fired up the country’s right-wing base, exhausted all appeals, making the court’s ruling final.Bolsonaro had been under house arrest until Saturday, when he was detained at police headquarters in Brasilia for tampering with his ankle monitor using a soldering iron. He will remain in a secure room at the headquarters, equipped with a TV, mini-fridge, and air-conditioning.Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said there were signs Bolsonaro was planning to flee during a vigil organised by his son outside his home. The justice noted Bolsonaro’s close relationship with US President Donald Trump and the nearby US embassy, suggesting he may have sought political asylum. Bolsonaro denied trying to escape, saying he had acted from “paranoia” induced by medications he was on, reported AP. Five of Bolsonaro’s co-accused, including military generals and former ministers, also began serving sentences ranging from 19 to 26 years. His former intelligence chief, Alexandre Ramagem, sentenced to 16 years, was declared a fugitive after fleeing to the United States. Bolsonaro’s defense lawyer Paulo Cunha Bueno said the closure of the case was “surprising” and that he would file an appeal anyway.Brazilian congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, the president’s son, was also charged Tuesday on suspicion of obstruction of justice after promoting measures by Trump aimed at interfering with his father’s trial.Bolsonaro is the fourth former president to be imprisoned since the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1985. His defense team has requested that he be allowed to serve his sentence at home, citing health risks. Bolsonaro suffers from complications from a 2018 campaign stabbing, requiring multiple follow-up surgeries, as well as persistent gastric-related hiccups that leave him breathless and faint.After visiting her father, Carlos Bolsonaro described him as “extremely fragile and psychologically devastated.” She added, “He’s eating very little — there’s no way for someone who knows he didn’t commit a crime to see this as normal.”Bolsonaro, who served as president from 2019 to 2022, maintains that he is innocent and a victim of political persecution. His detention leaves Brazil’s large conservative electorate without a clear leader ahead of the 2026 presidential elections, in which Lula, 80, has announced plans to seek a fourth term. Lula himself spent a year and a half in jail for corruption before the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
