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Brazil: STF panel upholds Bolsonaro's effective imprisonment

Two judges endorsed De Moraes' opinion, while Dino concurred, albeit as per his own written rationale

The First Panel of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) unanimously upheld on Monday former President Jair Bolsonaro's effective detention after tampering with the tracking device he had to wear as part of the house arrest he had been granted following his 27-year prison sentence for masterminding the Jan. 8, 2023, attempted coup d'état.

Bolsonaro has been incarcerated in a Federal Police facility in Brasilia since Saturday.

In an extraordinary virtual session, all four members of the panel ratified the measure ordered during the weekend by case rapporteur Alexandre De Moraes. At a custody hearing, the former president confessed to using an iron against the gadget and claimed “paranoia” caused by medication.

In ordering the retired captain's detention, De Moraes took into account a vigil called by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), the former president's son, to be held in front of Bolsonaro's residence, where he was under house arrest in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood of Brasília.

“The information confirms the convicted man's intention to break his electronic anklet to ensure his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son,” De Moraes wrote.

In Monday's vote, De Moraes echoed his previous ruling. Justice Flávio Dino attached a written vote in which he stated that the vigil called for the densely populated area represented an “unbearable threat to public order,” putting residents of the region at risk. He also cited the recent escape of Congressman Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ) to the United States, as well as other escape attempts by Bolsonaro supporters. “The escapes cited show profound disloyalty to national institutions, composing a deplorable criminal ecosystem,” he argued. Justices Cármen Lúcia and Cristiano Zanin simply endorsed De Moraes' opinion in its entirety.

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro's defense claimed “mental confusion” caused by the interaction of drugs with the central nervous system. The day before his arrest, the former president's defense had requested that Bolsonaro serve his sentence under humanitarian house arrest to the STF, which was rejected.

Bolsonaro was sentenced by the First Panel of the Supreme Court to 27 years and three months in prison. By a vote of 4 to 1, he was found guilty of leading an armed criminal organization to attempt a coup d'état to remain in power after his 2022 electoral defeat.

To date, the First Panel has rejected the first appeals by the defense of the former president and six other defendants convicted in the same criminal case, which targeted nucleus 1, or the “crucial nucleus” of the coup plot. Ramagem is part of the same group and was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison. (Source: Agencia Brasil)