Tânia Rêgo / Agência Brasil
Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil
The precautionary measure is not, however, the fulfillment of the sentence of more than 27 years to which the former Brazilian president was sentenced. Flávio Bolsonaro’s vigil led to the preventive decision.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro He was preventively arrested this Saturday in Brasília, at the request of the Federal Supreme Court, according to the local press.
“The Federal Police served this Saturday in Brasília/DF a preventive arrest warrant in compliance with the decision of the Federal Supreme Court”, reads a statement from the Federal Police.
Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) judge Alexandre de Moraes said that the former President tried to break the electronic bracelet to “guarantee success” in his escape, at midnight today.
“It is clear that the convict intended to break the ankle bracelet [pulseira] electronic means to ensure success in his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son”, reads the judge’s decision, cited by the G1 portal.
The local press indicated that preventive detention is a precautionary measureand this is not about serving the sentence of more than 27 years that Jair Bolsonaro received on September 11th for a coup d’état.
The former president was until now in . He has now been detained preventively to ensure public order.
The decision came after Senator Flávio Bolsonaro called a vigil in front of the condominium where the former president, who is his father, lives, which could make a possible arrest more difficult in the coming days. There is no set period for preventive detention.
Request to serve sentence at home
Jair Bolsonaro’s defense asked the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil this Friday for the former President to be able to serve at home the sentence of more than 27 years in prison to which he was sentenced in September.
In a letter to which the G1 portal had access, Bolsonaro’s defense, aged 70, claims serious health problemsincluding the after-effects of a stab wound that was given to him in the abdominal region, in 2018.
The lawyers also ask for “the authorization for exclusive travel for medical treatment, upon prior communication.”
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court (STF) released the document that rejects the first appeals presented by former President Jair Bolsonaro and that formalizes his sentence to 27 years and 3 months for having been found guilty, among other crimes, of a violent attempt to abolish the democratic rule of law and a coup d’état following the 2022 elections, which he lost to Lula da Silva.
The decision was published in the Electronic Justice Gazette, meaning that the deadline for the former head of state’s last appeals (2019-2022) is approaching the end, as the defenses have until Sunday, November 23rd, to present an appeal.
The document details the joint vote of the judges who denied Bolsonaro’s first appeal attempts.
With the publication of the document, the defense may try a new appealalthough knowing that it could be automatically rejected. This is an appeal only permitted when the conviction is decided by a minimum difference of votes, but in Bolsonaro’s case the result was four votes in favor of conviction and just one against, meaning that any appeal runs the risk of being shelved without even being analyzed by the court.
Currently under house arrest, Bolsonaro could be transferred to a special wing at the Papuda penitentiaryin Brasília, the city where he lives, or to a military unit in the Brazilian capital. The final decision on his fate will be taken by judge Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the case, when all appeals have been exhausted.
Although the STF has established the practice of executing sentences after rejection of the second embargoes, Alexandre de Moraes may order immediate arrest if you consider that the defenses are acting to delay the process.
