Legal remedies have been exhausted: former Brazilian President Bolsonaro must go to prison
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, convicted of plotting a coup, must begin a long prison sentence. The country’s highest court said on Tuesday that the 70-year-old man had exhausted all legal remedies and should therefore serve the full 27-year prison sentence. Bolsonaro was moved from house arrest to prison on Saturday after his electronic ankle bracelet was damaged due to an “increased risk of escape.”
A few days ago, Brazil’s Supreme Court rejected Bolsonaro’s first appeal against the ruling. His defense lawyers decided not to appeal further and the decision has now become final. The court ruled that Bolsonaro will remain in the officers’ room, a safe haven for protected prisoners, where he is currently being held in Brasília.
A court sentenced the ultra-right former president to more than 27 years in prison in September for his coup plot. Bolsonaro, who ruled Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was found guilty of leading a “criminal organization” that sought to overturn his 2022 election defeat to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Supreme Court concluded that Bolsonaro incited his supporters to storm the Supreme Court, presidential palace and Congress in the capital Brasília on January 8, 2023. Hundreds of his supporters broke into the buildings and caused extensive damage. The violent scenes were reminiscent of the attack on the Capitol in Washington by supporters of elected US President Donald Trump two years earlier.
On Saturday, Bolsonaro was detained because he was a flight risk after damaging his electronic ankle bracelet with a soldering iron. By order of the Supreme Court, he was transferred from house arrest to prison. Chief Judge Alexandre de Moraes ruled that Bolsonaro “intentionally and knowingly damaged electronic surveillance devices.”
As Bolsonaro stood guard in front of his house, there were also “very serious indications of a possible escape attempt,” de Moraes said. He referred to the proximity of Bolsonaro’s house, where he is under house arrest, to the US Embassy, as well as the former president’s closeness to US President Trump. De Moraes suspects Bolsonaro is trying to flee to seek political asylum in the United States.
However, Bolsonaro’s lawyers argued that their client was in a “state of mental disorder” due to taking several medications when he tried to remove the ankle bracelet. Bolsonaro himself spoke of “paranoia” and “hallucinations”. In a video released after the attempt, he said he held a soldering iron to his ankle bracelet out of “curiosity.”
Bolsonaro’s son, Flavio Bolsonaro, spoke out on Tuesday after visiting his father over the “grave atrocities” against him. There was a “significant risk” to his health and life. Meanwhile, his brother, Carlos Bolsonaro, said after his visit that his father barely ate and his mental health was deteriorating.
Jair Bolsonaro was diagnosed with skin cancer in September and the former president also suffered health consequences from a knife attack on him during the 2018 election campaign.
AFP
