Brazil top-court panel unanimously rejects Bolsonaro’s prison sentence appeal

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By Ricardo Brito

BRASILIA (Reuters) -A panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously voted on Friday to reject former President Jair Bolsonaro’s appeal challenging his 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup to remain in power after the 2022 presidential election.

Justices Flavio Dino, Alexandre de Moraes, Cristiano Zanin and Carmen Lucia voted to reject the appeal filed by Bolsonaro’s lawyers. The panel has five seats, but one has been open since late October.

Lawyers for Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The former president will only begin serving his sentence once all appeals are exhausted, which could happen as early as this month, court sources said.

In September, four of the five judges on the Supreme Court panel voted to sentence Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison for five crimes, including participating in an armed criminal organization, attempting to violently abolish democracy, and organizing a coup.

Typically, defendants sentenced by the Supreme Court need at least two justices to diverge on the ruling to request an appeal that could significantly change the decision. With only one dissenting, Bolsonaro’s lawyers filed a lesser motion, requiring review of specific parts, including a reduction in prison time.

FORMER PRESIDENT UNDER HOUSE ARREST

Bolsonaro has been under house arrest for three months for violating precautionary measures related to his alleged attempts to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to interfere in his criminal case.

His lawyers are expected to request he be allowed to remain under house arrest to serve his coup-plot sentence due to health concerns.

Bolsonaro has had recurring intestinal issues since he was stabbed while campaigning in 2018, including six related surgeries, the last one a 12-hour procedure in April.

Trump has called the case against Bolsonaro a “witch hunt” and retaliated by imposing steep tariffs on U.S. imports of Brazilian goods, sanctioning the judge overseeing the case, and revoking visas of several Brazilian officials.

Bolsonaro ended up not being charged by Brazil’s prosecutor general for attempts to persuade Trump’s interference, but a Supreme Court justice kept the former president under house arrest, saying his continued freedom posed risks demonstrated by his conviction for the coup plot and repeated violation of precautionary measures.

However, one of Bolsonaro’s sons, lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is currently in the U.S., has been criminally charged in the case, and the Supreme Court’s panel is set to vote whether to turn him into a defendant later this month.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Isabel Teles and Andre Romani; Editing by Natalia Siniawski, Rod Nickel)