Brazil – Brazilian security authorities arrested former President Jair Bolsonaro in preparation for his transfer to prison. This came in execution of a court ruling sentencing him to 27 years and three months in prison.
The arrest came after his legal team exhausted all major appeals against the verdict. Meanwhile, his lawyers continue to press for him to be placed under house arrest on health and humanitarian grounds. They argue that imprisonment poses a real threat to his life due to chronic bowel problems stemming from a stabbing he suffered in 2018.
If his request for house arrest is denied, Bolsonaro, 70, is expected to be sent to a high-security facility. The Papuda prison in Brasilia could be where he will be held in the coming days.
Details of the verdict and conviction
On September 11, 2025, a five-judge panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court convicted Bolsonaro on five counts of plotting a coup. This came after his defeat in the 2022 presidential election to then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The charges included attempting to overthrow the democratic rule of law, organizing a coup, and participating in an armed criminal organization.
With the addition of the ban preventing Bolsonaro from running for any public office until 2060, the ruling effectively became law. This is because the Supreme Court unanimously rejected his main appeal on November 7, 2025.
The case stems from an alleged conspiracy. The conspiracy culminated in his supporters storming government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. These events are described as a “strong rebuke” of far-right populism.
