Brazil Braces for Bolsonaro’s Imminent Arrest After Supreme Court Upholds 27-Year Sentence

By Staff, Agencies

Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is rapidly running out of legal avenues after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld his 27-year prison sentence for orchestrating a failed coup attempt aimed at blocking Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office.

Bolsonaro, who lost the 2022 election to Lula, was convicted in September for leading a conspiracy that prosecutors say included plans to assassinate Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The operation collapsed only when senior military commanders refused to endorse it, according to prosecutors.

The Supreme Court panel confirmed its ruling at midnight on Friday. Once the decision is formally published—expected as early as Monday—Bolsonaro’s lawyers will have five days to file one last appeal. But that appeal can be “quickly” rejected by Moraes, who would then issue the final judgment, a court source told AFP.

“Generally, after the publication of the final judgment, the arrest warrant is issued on the same day,” said Thiago Bottino, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation Law School. Moraes will also determine where the former president will be held.

Based on current legal timelines, Bolsonaro could be imprisoned before the end of November. The 70-year-old remains under house arrest and maintains his innocence. Given his ongoing medical issues following a stabbing during the 2018 campaign, he may request to serve the sentence at home.

The charges against him stem from efforts to delegitimize Brazil’s voting system, laying the groundwork for a military intervention in the event of his defeat. Prosecutors also presented evidence of a plot to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Moraes—a plan they say Bolsonaro approved.

“We were ready to kill a lot of people,” federal police agent Wladimir Soares said in an audio message released by the Supreme Court. “We were only awaiting orders from the president, but he backed down.”

In rejecting Bolsonaro’s appeal, Moraes underscored that a coordinated coup attempt had taken shape under his command, highlighting his role in inciting the January 8 attacks on Brazil’s Congress and other national institutions. He said the 27-year-and-three-month sentence reflected Bolsonaro’s “high culpability” and the severity of the crimes. Three other judges also voted to uphold the conviction.

In a separate development on the same day, the panel advanced a criminal case against Bolsonaro’s son, federal lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro. He is accused of “coercion” for lobbying in the United States for sanctions intended to influence the outcome of his father’s trial.