Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro begins 27-year prison sentence
Following a lengthy legal saga with multiple twist and turns former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro finally has to face the music and start his 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup. Both champagne and tears flowed outside federal police headquarters.
Brasilia/Rio de Janeiro (AP/dpa) - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro started his 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília.
The former president - who was in office from 2019 to 2022 - will initially serve his sentence at the police station where he has been in custody since the weekend, federal judge Alexandre de Moraes ruled on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court had earlier declared the verdict against the ex-military official legally binding. The lawyers of the former head of state can no longer file any further legal appeals, Brazilian media reported.
This clears the way for the enforcement of the prison sentence for the attempted coup.
In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 27 years and three months in prison for an attempted coup following his electoral defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is now president.
Champagne and tears
Supporters and detractors of the embattled leader gathered outside the federal police headquarters after the order was issued, some calling for Bolsonaro's release and others toasting to his imprisonment.
In other Brazilian cities, supporters prayed for the former president while detractors celebrated.
The far-right leader had been under house arrest since August and was taken in on Saturday after trying to break his ankle monitor. Bolsonaro blamed “hallucinations”, a claim that de Moraes dismissed in his preemptive arrest order. Judge de Moraes spoke of a "concrete flight risk" and a "threat to public order."
Bolsonaro in poor health
Due to violations of court-imposed conditions, the 70-year-old had already been under house arrest since August.
According to his lawyers, he is in poor health and suffers from lung infections, gastritis, skin cancer, persistent hiccups and complications following a knife attack on him during the 2018 election campaign.
Ex-president in recently renovated single cell
According to a report by the state news agency Agencia Brasil, Bolsonaro has a cell of about 12 square metres at the police headquarters, which was recently renovated. The room reportedly has white walls, a single bed, cupboards, a side table, a television, a minibar, air conditioning, a window and its own bathroom.
Bolsonaro will not have any contact with the few other inmates at the federal police headquarters. He will have free access to his doctors and lawyers, but others will have to get their access approved by the Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro was already preventively detained over the weekend after he attempted to tamper with his electronic ankle monitor. He admitted to having worked on the monitoring device "out of curiosity" with a soldering iron.
During his hearing, Bolsonaro said he had "a hallucination" that the ankle bracelet was being bugged, and therefore he had tried to open the cover.
Other convictions
In addition to Bolsonaro, the Supreme Court also declared the sentences for six co-defendants to be final.
Bolsonaro's lawyer criticised the decision. "It is a serious mistake to let these judgements become final," Paulo Cunha Bueno told the news portal G1.
In his view, the defence can still file another appeal by Friday to change the verdict. However, according to the Supreme Court's consistent case law, this type of appeal is only admissible if at least two judges plead for an acquittal in the main hearing, which was not the case in the September trial. Therefore, the Supreme Court concluded that the appeals are inadmissible and declared the verdict final.
Two of Bolsonaro's co-conspirators, the former minister of the cabinet for institutional security, Augusto Heleno, and former defence minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, were arrested by the Federal Police on Tuesday, the news portal G1 reported.
Their legal remedies are also exhausted. Heleno was sentenced to 21 years in prison in the criminal trial, and Nogueira to 19 years.
Supporters of the ex-military stormed government district
Shortly after Lula's presidential inauguration, supporters of Bolsonaro violently stormed the Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace on January 8, 2023.
It was only hours later that security forces regained control of the government district in Brasília. The images of the riots went around the world and were reminiscent of the storming of the US Congress in Washington in January 2021 by supporters of the then-ousted president Donald Trump, who refused to accept his defeat to Joe Biden.
Bolsonaro is not the first former president to spend time behind bars. His predecessor Michel Temer (2016-2018) and his successor Lula have also been to prison. Fernando Collor de Mello, who governed between 1990 and 1992, is currently under house arrest due to a corruption conviction.
Bolsonaro is the first to be convicted of attempting a coup. He was also referred to as the "Tropical Trump" due to his rhetoric and conduct in office.