Bolsonaro Starts 27-Year Sentence for Plot to Overturn Election

The far-right former president had been under house arrest since August and was taken into custody after authorities said he tried to break or tamper with his electronic ankle monitor, leading the court to treat him as a serious flight risk.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been jailed to serve a 27-year sentence over his role in an alleged coup attempt, after being taken into custody when Brazilian authorities accused him of planning to use a demonstration outside his home as cover to escape.

According to court documents, Bolsonaro was also suspected of trying to tamper with his electronic ankle monitor in the lead-up to his arrest.

Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has overseen the coup case, has ruled that Jair Bolsonaro will remain in custody for the duration of his 27-year sentence, after ordering his pre-emptive arrest on Saturday.

The far-right former president had been under house arrest since August and was taken into custody after authorities said he tried to break or tamper with his electronic ankle monitor, leading the court to treat him as a serious flight risk. Bolsonaro has blamed the violation of his monitoring device on «hallucinations» linked to a change in his medication, but that explanation was brushed aside in the arrest order and in subsequent votes by fellow justices.

In a written opinion backing Bolsonaro’s continued detention, Justice Flávio Dino wrote that «The admitted breach of electronic monitoring not only increases the risk of escape but also indicates a blatant violation of the precautionary measures», underscoring the court’s view that Bolsonaro knowingly defied judicial restrictions.

Let us recall that on January 8, 2023, thousands of Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters, refusing to accept his defeat in the 2022 election, stormed the three main seats of federal power on Brasília’s Praça dos Três Poderes — the National Congress, the Planalto presidential palace and the Supreme Court — vandalizing the buildings, clashing with security forces and calling for a military intervention to overturn the election results and prevent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from governing.

Jair Bolsonaro, often described as a close ally and ideological twin of Donald Trump, has long been embraced by Trump as a fellow right-wing leader, with the two men aligned on nationalism, conservative social policies and attacks on traditional institutions and the media.

As Bolsonaro faced investigation and trial in Brazil for allegedly plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election, Trump repeatedly rushed to his defense, calling the Brazilian proceedings a case of political persecution.

On Truth Social, Trump denounced Bolsonaro’s indictment as a «terrible thing» and demanded that authorities «LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE», framing the charges as part of a broader campaign against conservative leaders.