Coup case: Ex- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro taken to prison from house arrest; 27-year jail term begins

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was taken into custody on Saturday, days before he was expected to begin serving a 27-year prison sentence for leading an attempted coup in 2022, according to officials and his legal team. The federal police acted on a request from Brazil’s Supreme Court, though neither institution provided further details, reported AP.

Bolsonaro was detained around 6 am and moved from his residence in the upscale Jardim Botanico neighbourhood of Brasilia to the federal police headquarters, his aide Andriely Cirino told the agency. Local media had earlier reported that the 70-year-old leader, having exhausted all appeals, was scheduled to start his sentence next week.

The arrest marks an escalation from his house arrest status, imposed in August. His lawyer Celso Vilardi told AFP, "He has been imprisoned, but I don't know why," adding that the defence had argued for him to serve the sentence at home due to health concerns.

Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, has maintained that the charges related to the 2022 coup attempt are politically motivated. The federal police’s brief statement announcing the operation did not name him but confirmed that the detention followed a Supreme Court directive