The minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) may, starting this Tuesday (25), determine the definitive execution of the sentence of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). He was sentenced in September to 27 years and 3 months in prison on charges of leading a coup plot in 2022.
This Monday (24), the First Panel of the court unanimously validated Moraes’ determination for Bolsonaro’s preventive detention. On the same day, the deadline for the defenses of those convicted of the so-called central nucleus of the coup plot to present new appeals was closed.
From now on, according to members of the Supreme Court, Moraes can now determine that the former president will definitively answer for his conviction.
Bolsonaro was under house arrest from August 4th until last Saturday (22nd), when he was arrested at the regional headquarters of the Federal Police in Brasília. However, none of the measures were taken as part of the sentence imposed on him for attempting a coup d’état, which will only occur after the criminal action in the Supreme Court on the case becomes final.
This could happen if Moraes, rapporteur of the case, understands that the defenses’ embargoes are only delaying and cannot change the outcome of the trial.
He can deny these appeals individually, determine the beginning of the sentence and send the case for confirmation to the First Panel of the STF, just as he did with the decision that determined preventive detention.
The decision, by decision of the Supreme Court, is treated by court ministers as a precedent for Bolsonaro’s case.
The first appeal presented by Collor was denied by 6 votes to 4, in November 2024. Even with the rejection, the defense presented new embargoes to the Supreme Court on the same topic. Moraes considered the new request as delaying and decided to close the criminal action against the former president, with the beginning of the execution of the sentence.
Until 8pm this Monday, only the defenses of (former Minister of Justice) and (former Minister of Defense) were present in the case. The deadline ends at 11:59 pm.
The first made requests regarding the place of imprisonment if the Supreme Court decides to bring forward the sentence and the second appealed the conviction. Bolsonaro’s lawyers had not yet filed a petition in the case.
This Monday, Moraes’ decision to preventively arrest Bolsonaro was confirmed by , and .
The ministers in an open session at 8 am in the virtual plenary — a system in which magistrates vote without holding debates. The First Panel of the STF temporarily has only four ministers, since Luiz Fux migrated to the Second Panel.
“There is no doubt about the need to convert house arrest into preventive detention, due to the need to guarantee public order, to ensure the application of criminal law and the disregard for precautionary measures previously applied,” said Moraes. “Jair Messias Bolsonaro is persistent in his failure to comply with the various precautionary measures imposed,” he added.
In the same decision, Moraes said that Bolsonaro violated precautionary measures at other times, in July and August, the ban on the use of social networks.
“In a decision dated August 4, 2025, in view of the repeated non-compliance with the precautionary measures previously imposed, I ordered the house arrest of Jair Messias Bolsonaro, expressly highlighting that failure to comply with its rules or any of the precautionary measures would result in its revocation and the immediate decree of preventive detention”, wrote the minister.
At the time of his house arrest, Moraes stated that the former president failed to comply with orders during demonstrations. Bolsonaro was prohibited from using social media, even through other people.
“The continued disregard for precautionary measures, however, did not cease. On the contrary, it increased last Friday, November 21, when Jair Messias Bolsonaro intentionally and knowingly violated the electronic monitoring equipment.”
The minister stated that the former president admitted that he violated the ankle bracelet both when approached by teams from Seape-DF (Secretariat of State for Penitentiary Administration of the Federal District), in the early hours of Saturday, and at the custody hearing, on Sunday (23).
When voting with Moraes, Dino cited the trips of Bolsonaro deputies to the United States, and Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), son of the former president.
“The escapes to other countries of federal deputies perpetrating similar and related crimes, using different devices, demonstrate the violating environment of public order in which the criminal organization headed by the convicted person operates, composing a situation that, regrettably, is consistent with the set of illegalities already disapproved by the Judiciary”, said the minister.
“The aforementioned escapes show profound disloyalty towards the country’s institutions, creating a deplorable criminal ecosystem.”
He also cited risks to public order in the vigil called by the senator (PL-RJ) in front of the condominium where Bolsonaro was under house arrest.
Dino stated that the region where the house is located, the Jardim Botânico neighborhood, is densely populated and that the event “would constitute an obvious risk to public order, exposing residents and private properties to potential damage and situations of imminent danger.”
Bolsonaro and taken to the corporation’s regional headquarters in Brasília.
When determining the arrest, Moraes cited one in front of the condominium where the former president lives called by Flávio.
In the early hours of that day, Bolsonaro tried to violate the electronic ankle bracelet with a soldering iron, like himself.
“I used a hot iron, a hot iron there… curiosity,” said the former president to a server from the DF Penitentiary Administration Secretariat who went to the location to check the status of the device. Soldering iron that reaches high temperatures and allows metals to be melted.
The medical team accompanying Bolsonaro was at the PF Superintendence in DF this Sunday morning and, after examining him, spoke of “mental confusion and hallucinations” to describe the episode and attributed it to drug interaction.
