Former president Jair Bolsonaro’s defense did not file a new appeal against the sentence of 27 years and three months in prison imposed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for having led a criminal organization to carry out a coup d’état. 
According to the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in criminal matters, the end of the deadline paves the way for Minister Alexandre de Moraes (photo) to determine in the next order that Bolsonaro begins immediately serving his sentence, under an initial closed regime.
In a possible order to serve a sentence, Moraes must also define the place where Bolsonaro must be held. Since last Saturday, the former president has been preventively detained in a Federal Police (PF) room in Brasília.
As he is a former president, jurisprudence guarantees Bolsonaro the right to serve his sentence in a special room, segregated from other inmates. It is possible, for example, that he remains in a PF or Armed Forces facility.
Papuda Prison
Another possibility is that he will be sent to the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, on the outskirts of Brasília. This month, Moraes’ chief of staff inspected the Papudinhaa Military Police battalion attached to the prison and which usually houses imprisoned police officers and politicians.
Bolsonaro was preventively arrested by order of Moraes, unanimously endorsed by the First Panel of the Supreme Court. The minister responded to the request of the Federal Police, which claimed an imminent risk of the former president fleeing.
In a custody hearing following his arrest, Bolsonaro confessed to having tried to violate – with a soldering iron – the electronic ankle bracelet he was forced to wear. The PF also warned of a risk to social order caused by a vigil by supporters of the former president, which was being called to take place in front of the condominium where he was under house arrest in Brasília.
Resources and deadlines
The deadline for Bolsonaro’s defense to file second motions for clarification in the case ended at 11:59 pm on Monday (24). This type of appeal serves to clarify doubts or gaps pointed out by the defense in the sentence text. In theory, the new appeal would not have the effect of reversing the conviction.
According to the STF’s internal regulations, however, by the end of this week there would still be a deadline for Bolsonaro to present another type of appeal, the infringing embargoes, which allow lawyers to attack the conviction using the arguments of some vote for acquittal.
The Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, however, provides that offenders are only liable when there are at least two votes for acquittal, which did not occur in the former president’s trial.
In similar situations, Moraes already had the understanding that any additional appeal, in addition to the first motions for clarification already denied, would be “merely delaying”, that is, it would have been filed just to postpone serving the sentence, even without any legal viability.
Bolsonaro’s defense understood that new embargoes for declaration would be unfeasible, but the prediction is that he will have to insist on the offenders, based on the vote of minister Luiz Fux, the only one to vote for the total acquittal of the former president.
Once presented, it will be up to Moraes to decide whether or not the offenders can be tried. If the rapporteur denies progress to the appeal, lawyers may also present an appeal against this denial, which must be judged by the First Panel, with the opinion of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
