Brazil’s Top Court Panel Finalizes Vote Upholding Bolsonaro’s 27-Year Sentence

Overview

• The Supreme Court’s First Panel closed its virtual session scheduled to end at 11:59 p.m. Friday, cementing a 4–0 vote to reject appeals and maintain Jair Bolsonaro’s 27-year, three-month conviction in the Núcleo 1 case.
• No arrests are immediate, as the court must publish the ruling and allow a five-day window for new petitions before the rapporteur can declare the case final and execute sentences.
• Alexandre de Moraes can issue arrest orders once he certifies the end of appeals and will decide the place of custody, with Papuda prison or a Federal Police facility cited as likely venues.
• Bolsonaro’s defense is expected to seek home confinement on health grounds, while the path to a fresh review by the full 11-justice court is closed because only one justice voted to acquit in September.
• Appeals by six co-defendants were also rejected, including Walter Braga Netto, Almir Garnier, Anderson Torres, Augusto Heleno, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira and Alexandre Ramagem, as prosecutors link the plot to the post-election turmoil and allege it contemplated assassinations of top leaders.