With the decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), who (PL) on Monday (4), the former chief executive joined a short and symbolic list of former presidents arrested since the redemocratization of Brazil in 1985.
Bolsonaro is investigated for an attempted coup, obstruction of justice and criminal organization, in the context of the alleged scammers who aimed to prevent the possession of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2023. The decision was motivated by the breach of precautionary measures, with the use of social networks of their children and allies to attack the STF and defend foreign interference in the Brazilian judiciary.
Before him, Michel Temer (MDB), Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) and Fernando Collor de Mello were also arrested in different cases, all involving accusations of corruption and abuse of power.
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Lula: Prison at Lava Jato
Current President of the Republic, Lula was arrested in April 2018, after conviction in the second instance in the case of the Guarujá triplex, one of the main processes of Operation Lava Jato. The penalty was 12 years and 1 month for corruption and money laundering.
The petista spent 580 days arrested at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba and was released in November 2019, after the Supreme Court changes its understanding and determine that the execution of the sentence could only occur after the res judicata. Later the penalty was annulled by the Court, which considered that the case was contaminated by the judge of the first instance of Curitiba, Sergio Moro.
Collor: impeachment, conviction and prison
Fernando Collor de Mello, who resigned to the presidency in 1992 during an impeachment process, was also convicted years later. In May 2023, the STF sentenced it to 8 years and 10 months in prison for passive corruption and money laundering, in a scheme linked to BR Distribuidora.
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In 2025, he was arrested in Maceió, but the penalty was converted to the home regime in the first half of this year.
Temer: Brief arrests and charges of corruption
In March 2019, Michel Temer was arrested preventively on charges of leading a corruption scheme involving Eletronuclear contracts in the case known as “decontamination.” The former president was detained for four days, was released by STJ habeas corpus, but was again arrested for another five days.
Since then, it responds to lawsuits in freedom.
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Symbolic impact
Jair Bolsonaro’s arrest raises the degree of institutional tension and reinforces the reading that no president is immune to the justice system. Although under home, the measure has a high political and symbolic impact, especially in the face of investigations into its performance before and after the 2022 elections.
