Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a failed coup, after he exhausted all appeals.
The brash former army captain who fired up Brazil’s right and reshaped the country’s politics is ending a divisive career jailed in a small room at police headquarters equipped with a TV, mini-fridge, and air-conditioning.
Bolsonaro, 70, was convicted in September over a scheme to stop Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections that included a plot to kill the veteran leftist.
Prosecutors said the scheme failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal to his sentence earlier this month and, on Tuesday, ruled the judgement was now final, with no further challenges allowed.
The court also ordered a military tribunal to decide whether Bolsonaro should be stripped of his captain’s rank.
Bolsonaro had been under house arrest until Saturday, when he was detained at police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, for tampering with his ankle monitor using a soldering iron.
Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said there had been “very serious indications of a possible attempt to flee” during a planned vigil organised by Bolsonaro’s son outside his home.
The justice pointed to the location of the nearby US embassy and Bolsonaro’s close relationship with US President Donald Trump, suggesting he may have tried to escape to seek political asylum.
During a hearing on Sunday in Brasilia, Bolsonaro stated he “experienced a certain paranoia” due to medications he was on and that he had no intention of fleeing.
Earlier, Bolsonaro had claimed he used a soldering iron on the monitoring bracelet out of “curiosity”.
The court ruled Bolsonaro will remain detained in the officers’ room — a secure space for protected prisoners — where he is currently held in Brasilia. (Punch)
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