Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, faces an imminent prison sentence after the Supreme Court on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year conviction linked to an alleged coup attempt aimed at preventing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from assuming office in 2023.
Bolsonaro, who lost the 2022 presidential election, was convicted in September for orchestrating a scheme to delegitimize the electoral process, promote military intervention, and allegedly sanction plans to assassinate President Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
A panel of Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld the conviction last week, with the decision formally confirmed on Friday night. According to court procedure, Bolsonaro’s defense will have five days after publication of the ruling — expected as early as Monday — to file a final appeal.
However, legal experts note that this appeal can be dismissed swiftly by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the lead judge, who is also empowered to issue the arrest warrant.
“Once the final judgment is published, the arrest warrant is usually issued the same day,” said Thiago Bottino of the Getulio Vargas Foundation Law School.
Court insiders estimate Bolsonaro could be transferred to prison by the last week of November.
Bolsonaro, 70, who has been under house arrest since August, may request to serve his sentence at home due to medical complications arising from a 2018 stabbing.
The case centered on efforts to undermine Brazil’s electronic voting system to justify claims of fraud and trigger military intervention. Prosecutors also detailed a plot involving an alleged hit squad that claimed to be awaiting Bolsonaro’s authorization to carry out political assassinations.
“We were ready to kill a lot of people… We were only awaiting orders from the president,” said federal police agent Wladimir Soares in evidence released by the Court.
Justice de Moraes reaffirmed in his ruling that the evidence showed a deliberate coup attempt coordinated under Bolsonaro’s leadership, including his role in the January 8 attacks on Brazil’s Congress and other democratic institutions by his supporters.
The 27-year sentence reflects what the court described as Bolsonaro’s high degree of culpability as a former head of state and the grave consequences of his actions.
In a related decision, the Supreme Court also agreed to proceed with a criminal case against Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a federal lawmaker currently residing in the United States.
Eduardo is accused of coercion for allegedly lobbying U.S. officials to impose sanctions on Brazil in an effort to influence his father’s trial.
