Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year, three-month prison sentence for plotting a coup following his 2022 election defeat. Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled on Tuesday that the case has reached its final judgement, leaving no avenue for further appeals.
Bolsonaro, 70, was found guilty of leading a conspiracy to remain in power after losing the election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He is currently detained in a federal police facility in Brasília, where he will serve his sentence. Court documents reveal that Bolsonaro attempted to tamper with his ankle monitor using a soldering iron, attributing the act to paranoia induced by medication. Full-time medical care will be provided during his incarceration.
The Supreme Court determined that Bolsonaro was aware of plans to assassinate Lula and his running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to target Justice Moraes, who presided over the trial. The coup attempt collapsed when the army and air force refused to intervene.
On 8 January 2023, Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília, resulting in the arrest of approximately 1,500 individuals. The justices ruled that Bolsonaro incited the violence, aiming to reinstall himself in power through military intervention.
In addition to imprisonment, Bolsonaro is barred from running for public office until 2060, eight years after completing his sentence. He has denounced the trial as a “witch hunt” intended to block his participation in the 2026 presidential election.
Justice Moraes also mandated that Bolsonaro’s co-conspirators, including former institutional security minister Gen Augusto Heleno and ex-defense minister Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, begin serving their sentences.