Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro’s defense team has asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow him to leave prison to undergo surgery as recommended by his doctors. The request was submitted Tuesday (Dec. 9).

Bolsonaro is being held in a room at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, where he is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for his conviction in the criminal case involving a coup plot.

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His lawyers claim his health has deteriorated and are requesting that he be taken immediately to the DF Star Hospital in Brasília. His hospitalization should last five to seven days, they say.

“As stated by the doctor treating the petitioner, the former president needs surgery both to treat his hiccups – which are a side effect of previous surgeries – and because his unilateral inguinal hernia has worsened and also requires surgical intervention,” the petition reads.

They also asked Justice Moraes again to place Bolsonaro under house arrest. According to the defense, the prison environment is incompatible with the former president’s health condition.

There is no deadline for Justice Alexandre de Moraes to decide on the matter.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rio de Janeiro filed two complaints against six Shock Battalion officers for embezzlement and aggravated theft during Operation Containment, carried out on October 28 in the Complexo do Alemão and Vila Cruzeiro slums.

The complaint was filed on Saturday (Nov. 29) and is based on images captured by operational cameras on police uniforms. The recordings show 3rd Sergeant Marcos Vinicius Pereira Silva Vieira collecting a rifle similar to an AK-47 in a residence where about 25 men had already surrendered. Instead of sending the weapon to the group responsible for accounting for seized material, he leaves the scene.

Moments later, Vieira meets 3rd Sergeant Charles William Gomes dos Santos. The two put the rifle in a backpack and fail to record it among the seized items. The embezzlement complaint was filed on Friday (28).

Regarding the same operation, another complaint shows Warrant Officer Marcelo Luiz do Amaral, Sergeant Eduardo de Oliveira Coutinho, and two other police officers dismantling a Fiat Toro parked in Vila Cruzeiro.

The cameras record Coutinho removing the engine cover, headlight, and rearview mirror covers. Amaral and another police officer ensure conditions for the theft, including attempting to disable the body cameras. Another officer, identified as Machado, witnesses the entire action and does not intervene. The complaint was filed on Saturday (29).

In both cases, the Public Prosecutor’s Office identified attempts to manipulate the body cameras by the accused police officers, who tried to cover the lenses, change the recording angle, and even turn off the equipment. Such actions violate official protocols, undermine the production of evidence, compromise the recording of police activities, and interfere with internal and external control of the use of force, says the institution.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Military Audit Office continue to analyze all the images captured during the operation, which amount to dozens of hours of recording. The goal is to identify other possible irregularities and violations in the use of the cameras.

Mega-operation

Considered the deadliest operation in Rio de Janeiro in recent years, Operation Containment aimed, according to Rio de Janeiro Public Security, to contain the advances of the Comando Vermelho criminal organization. A total of 122 people were killed, including five police officers.

The historic beginning of prison sentences for generals convicted of participating in a coup plot shows Brazilian democracy is maturing, says Mateus Gamba Torres, History professor at the University of Brasília.

This week, in addition to the imprisonment of former President Jair Bolsonaro – a retired Army captain himself – Generals Augusto Heleno Pereira, Paulo Sergio Nogueira, and Walter Braga Netto, and Admiral Almir Garnier were also arrested.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Supreme Court upholds arrest of Bolsonaro, six others for coup plot.
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Their conviction also means that they should be subject to disciplinary action and will be tried by the Superior Military Court. 

This is the first time in Brazil’s history that military personnel have been arrested for direct involvement in a coup plot.

In the view of Professor Mateus Torres, 40 years after the end of the military dictatorship in Brazil, a path towards consolidating democracy is now in place.

“Even if the military decided to attempt a coup, as has happened several times in the republic, this is no longer accepted by our democracy,” the expert said.

Dirt under the rug

Regarding the proposals being debated in Congress to grant amnesty to coup plotters, Professor Torres recalls that demands like this have been successful at other times in Brazil’s history. However, he does not believe that a possible pardon could pacify the country or reduce polarization.

“Amnesty does not appease anything. It sweeps the dirt under the rug. Amnesty, in these cases, leads to impunity for coup plotters,” he argued.

The professor also describes the possibility of military personnel losing their ranks in proceedings at the Superior Military Court after a conviction in a civil court as historic.

“There is nothing more unworthy than going against our democracy. We know there is corporatism. But right now, there is a climate for this [the loss of ranks] to happen,” he went on to argue.

 

Unanimously, the justices of the First Panel of the Brazilian Supreme Court decided this Tuesday (Nov. 25) to ratify the decisions of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, which ordered the execution of the sentences of Jair Bolsonaro and six other defendants for the coup plot that sought to keep the former president in power, even after he lost the 2022 elections.

After signing the arrest warrants, Moraes convened a virtual session to judge the case. The panel reached a four-to-zero vote to uphold the arrests. In addition to Moraes, the votes were cast by Justices Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, and Cármen Lúcia.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Bolsonaro violates ankle monitor, sent to prison cell.
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The top officials of former President Bolsonaro’s government were convicted of the following crimes:

• Armed criminal organization,
• Attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law,
• Coup d’état,
• Damage aggravated by violence and serious threat, and
• Deterioration of listed heritage.

Earlier, Alexandre de Moraes recognized the final judgment of the case after the deadline for the defendants’ defense to file new appeals, which ended on Monday (24).

On the afternoon of this Wednesday (26), six defendants who are already detained will undergo custody hearings. These will be held by videoconference in the locations where they are serving their sentences. The proceedings will be conducted by auxiliary judges of Alexandre de Moraes and will serve to fulfill legal formalities.

Execution of sentences

With the procedural phase now concluded, Moraes ordered the execution of the sentences to begin. Below are the sentences and the locations where they are being served:

Jair Bolsonaro – former president of Brazil: 27 years and three months
Place of imprisonment: Federal Police Headquarters in Brasília.

Walter Braga Netto – former minister under Bolsonaro and vice-presidential candidate on the 2022 ticket: 26 years
Place of imprisonment: Military District in Rio de Janeiro.

Almir Garnier – former commander of the Navy: 24 years
Place of imprisonment: Navy facilities in Brasília.

Anderson Torres – former Minister of Justice and former Secretary of Security of the Federal District: 24 years;
Place of imprisonment: 19th Military Police Battalion of the Federal District, located in the Papuda Penitentiary Complex in Brasília.

Augusto Heleno – former Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet: 21 years;
Place of imprisonment: Planalto Military Command in Brasília.

Paulo Sérgio Nogueira – former Minister of Defense: 19 years;
Place of imprisonment: Planalto Military Command in Brasília.

Alexandre Ramagem – former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency: 16 years, one month, and 15 days.
He is a fugitive in Miami, in the United States. The arrest warrant will be included in the National Prison Monitoring Database.

Jair Bolsonaro

Former President Jair Bolsonaro had already been in preventive detention at the Federal Police headquarters since Saturday (22) for attempting to tamper with his electronic ankle monitor.

Since August 4, the former president had been under house arrest, imposed as part of another investigation into the United States’ tariff hike on Brazilian exports, a separate case in which he is also under investigation.

After his custody hearing, the former president confessed to using a soldering iron to tamper with the device and said he had a breakdown caused by medication.

With the declaration of final judgment, Bolsonaro’s imprisonment will become definitive rather than preventive. 

Defense

The defense teams of the former president and the other defendants commented on the order to execute the sentences. See their statements below:

Jair Bolsonaro
Bolsonaro’s lawyers said they were surprised by the immediate execution of the sentence and argued that he still has the right to file another appeal.
According to the defense team, the Supreme Court’s internal regulations provide for the possibility of filing dissenting opinions.

Braga Netto
Lawyer José Luis Oliveira said that the defense received the decision to execute the sentences with indignation. Oliveira reiterated that the general’s conviction is “absolutely unjust and contrary to the evidence in the case.”
“Unfortunately, we see that the process is ending as it began: with the systematic violation of the right to defense,” Oliveira stated.

Augusto Heleno
Lawyer Mateus Milanez stated that the defense expresses profound indignation and affirmed that the process has deviated from its purpose due to political influence.
“Faced with illegality and persecution, our fight for the annulment of this flawed process and for the formal recognition of his innocence will be tireless and uncompromising.”

Anderson Torres
The former minister’s defense said it received the decision to execute the sentence with “serenity.” Lawyer Eumar Novacki reiterated that Torres had no involvement in the coup plot.
“He regrets that the numerous pieces of evidence showing he was not involved, directly or indirectly, in any attempted coup d’état were not even considered in the decision that sentenced him to a very harsh 24-year prison term,” the defense stated.

Paulo Sergio
The general’s defense said it received the decision to execute the sentences with “deep indignation.” According to lawyer Andrew Fernandes, the appeals he filed in the case were not dilatory.
“The motions for clarification were not dilatory. The defense’s acquittal arguments were not even considered, and what is most alarming is that part of the sentence lacks the necessary justification and proportionality. The motions for clarification were filed precisely to address these flaws,” Fernandes stated.

The news report is attempting to reach Admiral Almir Garnier’s defense team for comment.

The four justices of the first panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously voted to uphold the preventive detention of former President Jair Bolsonaro. He has been held in a Federal Police facility in Brasília since Saturday (Nov. 22).

Bolsonaro was arrested on Saturday morning after attempting to tamper with his electronic ankle bracelet with a soldering iron. At a custody hearing, the former president confessed to the act and claimed “paranoia” caused by medication.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Bolsonaro violates ankle monitor, sent to prison cell.
• Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison for coup plot.

In the decision ordering preventive detention, Justice Moraes also cited a vigil called by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s son, to be held by supporters in front of the condominium where Bolsonaro was under house arrest, in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood of Brasília.

“The information confirms the convicted man’s intention to break his electronic ankle bracelet to ensure his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son,” the justice wrote. He said he ordered preventive detention to “ensure the application of criminal law.”

As expected, Justice Moraes reproduced his own decision in Monday’s vote. Justice Flávio Dino, in turn, attached a written vote in which he stated that the vigil to be held in a densely populated area represented an “unbearable threat to public order,” putting residents of the region at risk.

Justice Dino also cited the recent flight of congressman Alexandre Ramagem to the US, as well as other Bolsonaro supporters attempting to flee.

“These flights show deep disloyalty to national institutions, creating a deplorable criminal ecosystem,” he declared.

When asked to comment, Bolsonaro’s defense team claimed “mental confusion” caused by the interaction of drugs that affect the central nervous system. The day before his arrest, the former president’s defense team had requested the Supreme Court to allow Bolsonaro to serve his sentence under house arrest on humanitarian grounds. The request was rejected.

Justice Cristiano Zanin simply concurred in full, without attaching a written opinion.

Coup d’état

In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced by the first panel of the Supreme Court to 27 years and three months in prison, initially in closed custody. By a vote of four to one, he was found guilty of leading an armed criminal organization in a bid to stage a coup d’état, to remain in power after his electoral defeat in 2022.

The first panel has so far rejected the initial appeals filed by the defense team representing the former president and six other defendants convicted in the same criminal case, which targeted Nucleus 1, the main group of defendants in the coup plot case.

Ramagem is part of the same group and was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison.

This Monday (24) marks the deadline for the defense to file new motions for clarification – appeals that aim to answer questions or fill gaps in the conviction ruling, but which, in theory, would not change the outcome of the trial.

The defense could still appeal for infringements, in which lawyers can plead for the reversal of the conviction based on the votes for acquittal. The Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, however, states that this type of appeal is only applicable if there is more than one dissenting vote – which is not the case with Bolsonaro.

In similar cases, Moraes ordered the sentence to be served immediately after the rejection of the first motions for clarification was confirmed, on the grounds that any additional appeal would be “merely dilatory.”

Former President Jair Bolsonaro was taken to the Federal Police Headquarters in Brasília this Saturday (Nov. 22) after using a soldering iron in an attempt to remove his electronic ankle monitor. He was under house arrest and being monitored.

Because of the infraction and other evidence suggesting an intention to flee, Bolsonaro will now serve pre-trial detention in a 12-square-meter cell. He will appear at a custody hearing this Sunday (23).

Notícias relacionadas:

• Brazil’s Supreme Court to hear coercion case against Eduardo Bolsonaro.

Information about the attempt to break the ankle monitor appears in a report from the State Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration of the Federal District (Seap), sent to the Supreme Court along with a video in which Bolsonaro himself admits to the damage.

“[It was] curiosity,” he said, noting that the attempt to remove the device occurred late Friday afternoon (21).

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the preventive detention and lifted the secrecy surrounding the Seap report and video. He gave Bolsonaro’s defense 24 hours to respond regarding the attempt to tamper with the ankle monitor.

“The device showed clear and significant signs of damage. There were burn marks around its entire circumference, at the point where the case was attached. During the analysis, the monitored individual was asked about the tool used. In response, he stated that he had used a soldering iron to try to remove the device,” the report states.

The ankle monitor was then replaced with a new device.

On Friday, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – Rio de Janeiro) used social media to call for a prayer vigil near the house where his father, Jair Bolsonaro, had been under house arrest since August 4.

In the decision ordering preventive detention, Justice Alexandre de Moraes cites the violation of the ankle monitor and says that the meeting could cause unrest and even facilitate “a possible escape attempt by the defendant.”

Sentenced to 27 years and three months in the coup-plot criminal case, Bolsonaro and the other defendants may begin serving their sentences in the coming weeks.

Last week, the First Panel of the Court rejected the so-called motions for clarification filed by the former president and six other defendants, which sought to overturn the convictions and prevent the execution of the sentences in a closed regime.

This Sunday (23) marks the deadline for the defense to submit its final appeals. If the appeals are rejected, the arrests will be carried out.

The former president’s defense requested, on Friday, the granting of humanitarian house arrest for Jair Bolsonaro, but Moraes rejected the request on Saturday. According to his lawyers, Bolsonaro has permanent illnesses that require “intense medical monitoring,” and for this reason they argue that he should remain under house arrest.

Regarding Saturday’s preventive detention, the defense says it will appeal the decision.

Bolsonaro was under house arrest due to non-compliance with precautionary measures previously established by the Supreme Court. These measures stem from the investigation in which federal representative Eduardo Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – São Paulo), the former president’s son, is being investigated for his actions with the government of US President Donald Trump to promote retaliatory measures against the Brazilian government and Supreme Court justices.

On Thursday (Nov. 20), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nominated Attorney General Jorge Messias to the Brazilian Supreme Court. The information was confirmed by the Planalto presidential palace.

He was nominated to replace Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, who announced his early retirement and left the Supreme Court last month. Messias is 45 years old and could remain in the position for the next 30 years, when he will turn 75, the age of mandatory retirement.

To take office, Messias must undergo a confirmation hearing before the Senate Constitution and Justice Committee and have his nomination approved both by the committee and by the full Senate. The date of the hearing has not yet been set.

Jorge Messias has headed the Attorney General’s Office since January 1, 2023, the beginning of Lula’s third term.