Bolsonaro’s inner circle fears imminent imprisonment of former Brazilian President
The former President completed 100 days under house arrest on Tuesday
Allies of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fear the former head of State, who has been sentenced by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to 27 years and 3 months in jail for masterminding the Jan. 8, 2023, attempted coup d’état, will soon be transferred from his house arrest to a detention facility.
The STF is in the final stages of rejecting the former President’s motions for clarification, with all magistrates reportedly voting to dismiss the appeal. The deadline for the virtual plenary session is November 14, after which STF Justice Alexandre De Moraes is expected to determine the location where Bolsonaro will serve his sentence.
The atmosphere surrounding Bolsonaro is described as highly apprehensive, as case rapporteur De Moraes is said to be making up his mind between the Papuda Penitentiary and the Federal Police Headquarters in Brasília.
De Moraes’ chief of staff has reportedly inspected three sectors of the Papuda complex, including a maximum security block and a Military Police Battalion known as Papudinha, where former Justice Minister Anderson Torres was already held in 2023.
Sources close to the former President, however, believe that if imprisoned, De Moraes is likely to hold Bolsonaro in an isolated facility like Papudinha for only a few weeks before reinstating house arrest, a practice that has occurred in similar high-profile cases. Bolsonaro is currently detained on separate obstruction of justice charges.
Given the strong likelihood of the STF upholding the sentence, Bolsonaro’s legal team is reportedly planning to employ a strategy similar to that of former President Fernando Collor de Mello, who was granted house arrest on medical grounds a week after his imprisonment earlier this year. This medical defense is viewed at this point as the only viable option.
Behind the scenes, Bolsonaro’s supporters recognize a significant weakening of the right wing’s mobilization capabilities. The push for a legislative amnesty has reportedly lost momentum in Congress, and lawmakers who once mobilized in the former President’s defense are now encountering resistance and a lack of popular engagement.
Additionally, Federal District Deputy Governor Celina Leão, a close political ally of Bolsonaro, argued that the Papuda Prison Complex is not equipped to receive the former President because it lacks the infrastructure and resources to meet his medical needs and special diet following his past surgeries. However, De Moraes has previously dismissed a request for a medical evaluation related to the Papuda facilities.