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Agence France-Presse

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a failed coup, after he exhausted all appeals.
The brash former army captain who fired up Brazil’s right and reshaped the country’s politics was ending a divisive career jailed in a small room at police headquarters equipped with a TV, mini-fridge, and air conditioning.
Bolsonaro, 70, was convicted in September over a scheme to stop Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office as president after the 2022 elections that included a plot to kill the veteran leftist.
Prosecutors said the scheme failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal to his sentence earlier this month, and on Tuesday ruled the judgment was now final.
The court also ordered a military tribunal to decide whether Bolsonaro should be stripped of his captain’s rank.
Bolsonaro had been under house arrest until Saturday, when he was detained at police headquarters in the capital Brasilia for tampering with his ankle monitor using a soldering iron.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said there were signs Bolsonaro was planning to flee during a planned vigil organised by his son outside his home.
The justice pointed to the location of the nearby US embassy, and Bolsonaro’s close relationship with US President Donald Trump, suggesting he may have tried to escape to seek political asylum.
Bolsonaro said he had acted from “paranoia” induced by medications he was on and denied trying to escape.

The court ruled Bolsonaro will remain detained in the officers’ room - a secure space for protected prisoners - where he is currently held in Brasilia.
Five of Bolsonaro’s co-accused, including military generals and former ministers, also began serving sentences Tuesday of between 19 and 26 years.
His former intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison, was declared a fugitive after recently fleeing to the United States.
Bolsonaro’s defence lawyer Paulo Cunha Bueno said the closure of the case was “surprising” and that he would file an appeal anyway.
Brazilian congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, the president’s son, was also charged by a court Tuesday on suspicion of obstruction of justice after promoting measures by Trump that sought to interfere with his father’s trial.
Bolsonaro is the fourth former president to be imprisoned since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985.

In May, Fernando Collor de Mello was allowed to serve his nearly nine-year sentence for corruption at home, on health grounds.
Bolsonaro’s defence team wants him to be afforded the same treatment, saying his detention is putting his life at risk.
Bolsonaro suffers the consequences of a stab wound to the abdomen during a 2018 campaign trail attack and has required several follow-up surgeries.
He also suffers from persistent “uncontrollable hiccups” linked to gastric issues that have left him out of breath and fainting, according to his doctors.
Bolsonaro’s family has sought to spotlight the poor mental and physical state of the far-right firebrand who drew criticism during his presidency for attacks on minorities and a lack of empathy for those dying from Covid.
After a visit to his father on Tuesday, Carlos Bolsonaro described him as “extremely fragile and psychologically devastated.”

“He’s eating very little - there’s no way for someone who knows he didn’t commit a crime to see this as normal.”
Bolsonaro, who was president from 2019 to 2022, maintains that he is innocent and a victim of political persecution.
With Bolsonaro out of the running, Brazil’s large conservative electorate was without a champion heading into the 2026 presidential elections, in which Lula, 80, has said he would seek a fourth term.
Lula himself spent time in jail in between presidential mandates for corruption. He was imprisoned for a year and a half before the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.


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Americas and the Caribbean

Brazil’s Bolsonaro begins 27-year prison sentence for coup attempt

Jair Bolsonaro is seen through the door of the Federal Police headquarters, where he is imprisoned, in Brasilia on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro at his residence in Brasilia on September 3. Photo: AFP

Jair Bolsonaro is seen through the door of the Federal Police headquarters on Sunday, where he is imprisoned. Photo: AFP

Detractors of Jair Bolsonaro celebrate outside the Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia. Photo: AP

The damaged ankle monitor worn by Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: Secretary of State for Penitentiary Administration via Reuters

Carlos Bolsonaro described his father as ‘extremely fragile and psychologically devastated’. Photo: Reuters

Brazil’s top court upholds jailing of Bolsonaro after ‘attempt to flee’

Brazil’s Bolsonaro blames ‘hallucinations’ for violating ankle monitor

A person holds a cut-out of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro during a vigil in Brasilia on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Jair Bolsonaro is seen through the door of the Federal Police headquarters. Photo: AFP

 Jair Bolsonaro’s wife, Michelle Bolsonaro. Photo: AFP

Brazil’s ex-president Bolsonaro arrested amid escape plot fears before 27-year sentence

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro gestures after taking medical tests at a hospital in Brasilia in August. Photo: AFP

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is seen at his residence in Brasilia in September. Photo” AFP

Jair Bolsonaro gestures after taking medical tests at a hospital in Brasilia in August. Photo: AFP

Brazil’s Lula asks Trump to scrap tariffs as leaders agree to meet after ‘friendly’ call

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged US President Donald Trump to lift punitive trade tariffs in their first official talks Monday after months of animosity. Photo: AFP

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. File photo: AFP

Brazilians protest against bill that could lead to a pardon for Bolsonaro and allies

Brazilians protest against a proposed Amnesty Bill that would change penalties for those convicted of plotting a coup, set for a vote next week, at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Photo: Reuters 

A drone view shows a protest against the PEC 3/2021, known as “PEC da Blindagem” (Shield PEC), approved this week by Congress and against the Amnesty Bill, in São Paulo, Brazil on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Americas

Top court closes the case against Brazil’s far-right former president, who was convicted of plotting a coup after his 2022 election defeat


Top court closes the case against Brazil’s far-right former president, who was convicted of plotting a coup after his 2022 election defeat.
