Bolsonaro must serve 27-year prison sentence for plotting coup in Brazil

(Patria) - Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year and three-month prison sentence for plotting a coup after losing the last election, the BBC reported.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes ruled on Tuesday that the case had reached a final verdict and that further appeals were not possible.

Bolsonaro (70) was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at remaining in power after losing the 2022 election to his left-wing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

He will begin serving his sentence in a federal police prison cell in the capital Brasília, where he has been detained since Saturday after being considered a flight risk, and was released from house arrest. At a hearing on Sunday, Bolsonaro admitted that he tried to open the monitor on his ankle (ankle bracelet) with a soldering iron until he "came to his senses," court documents show.

He said he had no intention of fleeing and blamed the damage to the monitor on "paranoia" caused by medication.

Judge Moraes ordered on Tuesday that Bolsonaro, whose medical team previously stated his health was deteriorating, be provided with constant medical care.

Supreme Court justices stated in September, when Bolsonaro was found guilty of plotting a coup, that he was aware of plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential candidate Geraldo Alckmin, as well as the arrest and execution of Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy did not receive support from the commanders of the army and air force. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1, 2023. But a week later, on January 8, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília. Security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested. The justices determined that the rioters were incited by Bolsonaro, whose plan, they said, was for the military to intervene and return him to power.

Bolsonaro has also been barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after his sentence expires.

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt" designed to prevent him from running in the 2026 presidential election.

Judge Moraes also ordered on Tuesday that others found guilty as Bolsonaro's accomplices must begin serving their sentences.

Among them are General Augusto Heleno, former minister of institutional security, and General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, former minister of defense.