Bolsonaro Faces 27-Year Coup Prison Term, Begins Next Step in Brasília
Bolsonaro Faces 27-Year Coup Prison Term, Begins Next Step in Brasília
Former president Jair Bolsonaro begins serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup, in a compact Brasília cell after appeals run out.
Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to begin serving a 27-year prison sentence for leading a conspiracy to undermine democracy by plotting to stay in power after losing the election. The plot involved a plan to assassinate Lula and his running mate Geraldo Alckmin, and was described as an effort to annihilate Brazilian democracy and plunge the country back into dictatorship.
Bolsonaro has been under house arrest since August and was taken into preventive custody after unsuccessfully trying to cut off his electronic ankle monitor with a soldering iron. He is set to start serving his sentence in a 12-square-meter bedroom at a federal police base in Brasília once the appeals period has ended.
Six co-conspirators were also ordered to begin their sentences. Among them are former defence minister Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira (19 years) and former minister for institutional security Gen Augusto Heleno (21 years), former navy commander Adm Almir Garnier Santos (24 years), former defence minister Gen Walter Braga Netto (26 years), and former justice minister Anderson Torres (24 years).
The decision was handed down by Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ruled Bolsonaro should start serving his sentence after the case formally ended following the appeals window.
The arrangement to house Bolsonaro in a small cell at the police base in Brasília marks a striking moment in Brazil's political history, reinforcing a message of accountability for those who plotted to overturn the results of a democratic election.
Cover image source: Bolsonaro To Start Serving 27-Year Prison Sentence Over Coup Plot 🔗
