Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday (November 25) that former president Jair Bolsonaro begin serving his sentence of over 27 years in prison. This came after the former leader attempted to remove the electronic monitoring device from his ankle a few days ago, violating the house arrest rules, which led to a judge ordering his arrest and ultimately ruling for him to serve his sentence in prison.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil’s Supreme Court issued the order on Tuesday to confine Bolsonaro at the Federal Police Headquarters in the capital, Brasilia. He has been held there since last Saturday after authorities revealed that he used an electric iron to destroy the ankle monitor.
Bolsonaro was defeated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 election and was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison in September this year.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers had requested home confinement citing his old age and various health issues, including a recent diagnosis of skin cancer. However, de Moraes rejected this request in another ruling issued last Saturday, stating that Bolsonaro admitted to damaging the ankle monitor using an electric iron.
Documents released by Brazil’s Supreme Court on Sunday showed that Bolsonaro admitted to Assistant Judge Luciana Sorrentino last Sunday that he did try to dismantle the ankle monitor the day before. He explained that after a medication adjustment last week, he had a “hallucination” believing there was a bug in the ankle monitoring device and felt “paranoid,” which sparked his curiosity to open the monitoring device.
After learning about Bolsonaro’s attempt to dismantle the monitor, de Moraes issued an arrest warrant last Saturday, expressing concerns that the former president might flee.
The decision made by de Moraes requires approval from a panel of four judges, including de Moraes himself, from Brazil’s Supreme Court.
Earlier on Tuesday, Brazil’s Supreme Court officially concluded Bolsonaro’s involvement in a coup plot, ruling that all appeals processes have been exhausted, and the guilty verdict stands as final. The court rejected his appeals earlier this month.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers argued that it is premature for the court to render a final judgment and should allow more time for appeals.
Before his arrest last Saturday, Bolsonaro had been under house arrest in Brasilia for over 100 days.