Former President Jair Bolsonaro will begin a 27-year prison sentence for a coup plot against his successor, a decision made by Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday, marking the culmination of years of political turmoil and legal battles.
The Supreme Court’s four-judge panel unanimously upheld the decision, rejecting Bolsonaro's appeal earlier this month.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to start serving his sentence at the Federal Police Superintendency in Brasília, where he has been held since Saturday after tampering with his ankle monitor.
He had been under house arrest in a separate case before his arrest.
Bolsonaro, 70, was detained after he used a soldering iron to tamper with his ankle monitor ahead of a planned vigil outside his home.
He denied any intent to escape, attributing his actions to paranoia and hallucinations caused by medication. The court ruled that the tampering violated the terms of his house arrest.
In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for conspiring to overturn the 2022 election results, in which he lost to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The coup plot charges were related to his efforts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.
Bolsonaro’s arrest is a major setback for the former president, who rose from the far-right fringe to power in 2019. Since leaving office in 2023, he has been banned from holding public office and faced several legal challenges.
Former ally, U.S. President Donald Trump, who had supported Bolsonaro, has distanced himself, and recently began reversing tariffs imposed to punish Bolsonaro's prosecution.
Congressman Lindbergh Farias called the ruling "a memorable day for Brazilian democracy," as it marked the first time in Brazil’s history that a former president and military officials were arrested for a coup attempt.
Bolsonaro's legal team, led by attorney Celso Vilardi, said the case was rushed and vowed to continue appealing the decision. Vilardi argued that more time should have been allowed for further appeals.
Bolsonaro’s son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, described the prosecution as “psychological torture” and a “rigged game.”
His brother, Carlos Bolsonaro, stated that Bolsonaro was “emotionally destroyed” by the situation. Despite this, Bolsonaro has repeatedly insisted that he will run for president again in 2026. His political future remains uncertain, however, given the declining public support and legal issues.
Although Bolsonaro's defenders maintain that he is still politically strong, the few supporters who gathered outside the Federal Police building on Tuesday reflected his diminished influence.
Bolsonaro's defence has shifted the focus to his health issues, claiming that his frailty is the reason behind the legal challenges.
Despite the setback, Bolsonaro’s right-wing allies continue to push for his return to power, and tensions within Brazil’s polarised political landscape persist.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran see...
North Korea has deployed troops, weapons and now, according to a Ukrainian intelligence official, a missile unit to support Russia's war against Ukrai...
Kazakhstan has begun building the Beineu-Saksaulsk highway, a new Middle Corridor link expected to shorten freight journeys between China and Europe b...
One hundred years after the First World War and more than eighty years after the devastation of the Second World War gave rise to the United Nations, humanity once again finds itself living in an age of permanent crisis.
Flights arriving at Catania airport in eastern Sicily were suspended after volcanic ash from a new eruption of Mount Etna drifted into the airspace around the airport, disrupting operations at one of Italy’s busiest aviation hubs.
For months, efforts to secure the Red Sea have focused on what is happening in the water. Naval deployments have increased, governments have expanded maritime cooperation and shipping companies have adapted to persistent security threats.
Greenland has issued a “strong warning” to a U.S. oil company linked to President Donald Trump after drilling equipment was brought ashore without the required government approvals, according to British media.
A deal on a new route for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is "very close," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, while warning that the reopening of the waterway depends on the U.S. meeting other conditions, including paying compensation to Iran.
North Korea has deployed troops, weapons and now, according to a Ukrainian intelligence official, a missile unit to support Russia's war against Ukraine, marking Pyongyang's most significant involvement in a war since the 1950s.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom plans to increase its workforce at Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant to 100 specialists by the autumn, depending on the security situation and progress toward a halt in hostilities between Washington and Tehran.
U.S. President Donald Trump has warned FIFA against replacing its president, Gianni Infantino, as the football governing body faces mounting pressure over a failed proposal to sell an interest in the World Cup to private equity investors.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment