# Bolsonaro begins 27-year prison term after coup conviction
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has started serving a 27-year sentence for leading a coup attempt, a landmark moment for a leader who long had allies arguing he might never face prison.
Jair Bolsonaro has started serving his 27-year prison sentence, turning one of Brazil’s most dramatic post-election legal sagas into a reality that many people in the country once doubted would arrive. The former president began the sentence on Tuesday after Brazil’s Supreme Court said his appeals had been exhausted and ordered him to remain in custody.
Bolsonaro was arrested preemptively on Saturday after trying to break his ankle monitor, according to the AP report. He had already been under house arrest since August. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has overseen the case, ruled that Bolsonaro should remain at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia rather than be moved elsewhere. His room there is described as a small private space with a bed, bathroom, air conditioning, a TV and a desk.
The conviction goes to the heart of Brazil’s democratic stress test. Bolsonaro and several allies were found guilty by a panel of Supreme Court justices of trying to overturn the result of the 2022 election after his defeat by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The plot, according to the AP account, included plans to kill Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Justice de Moraes, and also involved encouraging an insurrection in early 2023.
Outside the federal police building, supporters and opponents gathered almost immediately after the custody order. Some Bolsonaro loyalists demanded amnesty or blamed de Moraes, the media and Lula supporters. Others celebrated the imprisonment, arguing it was proof that Brazil’s institutions were strong enough to punish a former president. In Sao Paulo, councilor Keit Lima described the moment as a chance to breathe and keep fighting for democracy.
Bolsonaro remains politically influential even while barred from office until at least 2030 in a separate ruling. AP reported that the start of his sentence effectively extends that ineligibility to 2033. The wider implications reach beyond Brazil: Bolsonaro is a close ally of Donald Trump, who has called the trial a “witch hunt,” and the case has touched trade and sanctions disputes between the two countries. His imprisonment now marks the latest chapter in a constitutional conflict that has already reshaped Brazil’s politics and is likely to keep doing so.
