Brazilian court confines ten convicted in coup plot to house arrest

A Supreme Court judge on Saturday ordered house arrest for ten people who had been convicted and sentenced for roles in a scheme to keep former president Jair Bolsonaro in power after his 2022 defeat. The measure replaces previous precautionary steps such as electronic ankle monitors and nightly stay requirements, tightening enforcement after a high profile flight risk was neutralized abroad.

The move followed the detention in Asuncion, Paraguay, and return to Brazil of Silvinei Vasques, the former chief of the federal highway police who served under Bolsonaro. Vasques was intercepted while attempting to board a plane to El Salvador after allegedly removing or breaking a court ordered ankle monitor and crossing into Paraguay. He had been arrested in 2023, placed under supervised release, convicted in the broader 2023 attempted coup cases and sentenced to 24 years and six months in prison. Authorities received him in Brasilia, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered his preventive detention upon return.

Justice de Moraes has been central to the judiciary's enforcement actions against the network accused of trying to overturn the 2022 election results. The prosecutions stem from the January 8, 2023 storming of government buildings by supporters of Bolsonaro and a wider case alleging an attempted coup. Jair Bolsonaro himself has been convicted in the broader probe and is serving a 27 year sentence after being found to have orchestrated the plot, amid charges that the court has described as leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to abolish the democratic order by force, plotting a coup d état and committing violent acts against state institutions.

The ten defendants placed under residence confinement include Filipe Martins, a former adviser to Bolsonaro. Martins's lawyer, Jeffrey Chiquini, said they will file an appeal and added, "There is no greater injustice than condemning a person for the actions of another." Defense lawyers across the cases have signaled legal challenges to the new restrictions.

Officials framed the house arrest orders as targeted measures to reduce the risk of defendants fleeing, a concern underscored by Vasques's bid to escape after his conviction. Vasques's lawyer declined to comment when contacted. The government has also cited other departures by implicated officials, including the former intelligence agency director Alexandre Ramagem, who left Brazil in September and has since been reported to be living in the United States.

The court's actions represent an escalation in a long running legal campaign to dismantle the network prosecutors say aimed to overturn Brazil's democratic transition. By converting precautionary measures into residence confinement, magistrates are limiting movement of those already sentenced while appeals and parallel investigations continue. The tightening comes amid broader political fallout, with repeated clashes between supporters of Bolsonaro and institutions enforcing the rulings.

The decisions are likely to reverberate through Brazil's courts and political landscape, testing the capacity of the judiciary to enforce sentences against politically connected defendants and to deter further attempts to evade justice.