Yesterday, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered ten former subordinates of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who were convicted of involvement in the coup attempt led by the former president in 2022, to be placed under house arrest.
The order comes a few days after former police chief Silvenei Vasques, another participant in the conspiracy, attempted to escape.
According to the court, those arrested were part of the middle hierarchy of the conspiracy and performed key functions in the coup attempt, such as planning violent acts, seeking legal support for institutional collapse and spreading disinformation campaigns on social networks. All had been convicted but remained free pending appeal.
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“In addition to house arrest, precautionary measures such as the ban on the use of social networks, contact with other people under investigation, the issuance of passports, the suspension of the permit to carry firearms and the ban on visits were imposed,” the Federal Police said in a statement.
The court order came a day after Vasques was arrested at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport on the outskirts of Asunción as he tried to board a flight with false documents. After his expulsion by the Paraguayan authorities and his transfer to Brazil, the Supreme Court ordered his preventive detention. The former police chief faces a prison sentence of 24 years and six months for his role in the conspiracy.
Among those arrested is Filipe Garcia Martins, Bolsonaro’s former international affairs adviser. His lawyer questioned the measure on social media, claiming his client had already adhered to strict restrictions, including the electronic ankle bracelet.
According to the federal police, arrest warrants had been executed against eight people by yesterday morning, and two others had not been found in their apartments.
According to O Globo, the other detainees are Giancarlo Gomes Rodrigues, Marilia Ferreira de Alencar, Angelo Martins Denicoli, Fabricio Moreira de Bastos, Sergio Ricardo Cavaliere, Bernardo Romão Correa Netto and Ailton Gonçalves Moraes Barros, all former civil servants or members of the armed forces during the government of Jair Bolsonaro. Meanwhile, Voto Legal Institute President Carlos Rocha and Army Lieutenant Colonel Guilherme Marques Almeida remain on the run.
The case against the former president. In September, the Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for plotting to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The coup attempt failed due to a lack of support from senior military commanders. The former president, a leader of the far right, denies the allegations and claims he is the victim of legal persecution.
Bolsonaro, 70 years old and in prison since the end of November for trying to break his electronic ankle bracelet, underwent surgery this Thursday to correct a hernia, a procedure that, according to his wife, was “successful” and without complications.
The former president left prison for the first time on Wednesday and was taken to a hospital in Brasilia, where he underwent surgery. “The operation was completed successfully and without complications. Now we wait for him to wake up from the anesthesia,” Michelle Bolsonaro wrote in a post on Instagram.
The attempted coup case continues to be heard in court, with new restrictions on the former officials involved and under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court.
Jair Bolsonaro has already nominated his eldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, for the 2026 elections because he cannot run as a candidate.
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