Brazil’s Supreme Court granted humanitarian house arrest to those over 70 who were convicted of participating in the January 8, 2023 coup attempt.

The decision was signed on Friday (Apr. 24) by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur for cases related to the attempted coup d’état.

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Moraes applied the Criminal Enforcement Law, which allows for the granting of house arrest to individuals over 70. The decision also benefits 18 other elderly inmates with serious illnesses.

One of the beneficiaries was 70-year-old retiree Maria de Fátima Mendonça Jacinto, known as Fátima from Tubarão, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison and has already served three years, ten months, and 24 days.

According to the case that led to her conviction, Jacinto broke into the Supreme Court’s headquarters, smashing windows, chairs, tables, and works of art, and posted the acts on social media. Based on the videos, she was identified and arrested by the Federal Police of Brazil two weeks after the coup-related acts.

Fátima Jacinto and the other elderly individuals must comply with precautionary measures, including wearing an electronic ankle monitor, surrendering their passports, refraining from leaving the country, using social media, or maintaining contact with others under investigation.

Those granted these measures may receive visitors only with prior authorization from the justice.

In the event of non-compliance, Moraes may order the return of the convicted individuals to a closed prison regime.

Despite being granted house arrest, the convicted individuals remain jointly liable for the payment of BRL 30 million in damages resulting from the vandalism of the Supreme Court building, the Congress, and the Planalto presidential palace.

According to the latest data released in January by the Supreme Court, the Court’s First Panel has convicted 1,399 individuals accused of participating in acts that sought to undermine Brazilian democracy and the functioning of its institutions. According to the report, 179 people are currently in prison, 114 of them in a closed regime following the finalization of their convictions.

Following the coup attempts, the Office of the Attorney General filed 1,734 criminal cases with the Supreme Court. The charges were divided among instigators, perpetrators, and four main nuclei that supported former President Jair Bolsonaro’s attempt to remain in power after losing the election, thereby subverting the democratic order, according to the Supreme Court.

The report shows that the majority - 979 people (68.9%) - were charged with less serious offenses and received sentences of up to one year in prison (415) or benefited from non-prosecution agreements.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday (Apr. 24) ordered the final enforcement of the sentences of those convicted in the coup plot occurred during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The arrests were carried out after the justice ordered the enforcement of the sentences for the five defendants in Nucleus 2, the last group pending. The defendants in Nuclei 1, 3, and 4 had already had their arrests ordered.

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The decision was handed down after Moraes recognized the finality of the convictions, meaning that no further appeals could be filed.

With this decision, the convicted individuals will begin serving their sentences. They are:

• Mário Fernandes, retired Army general: 26 years and six months in prison;
• Silvinei Vasques, former director of the Federal Highway Police: 24 years and six months in prison;
• Marcelo Câmara, Army colonel and former advisor to Bolsonaro: 21 years in prison;
• Filipe Martins, former advisor on international affairs to former President Jair Bolsonaro: 21 years in prison;
• Marília de Alencar, former director of intelligence at the Ministry of Justice: 8 years and six months in prison; she had been awaiting trial while free.

With the sentences being carried out, a warrant was issued for Alencar’s arrest, but she will serve 90 days under house arrest while recovering from surgery. She is required to wear an electronic ankle monitor.

The sentences were handed down in December last year, when the Court’s First Panel convicted the defendants.

Charges

Filipe Martins was accused by the Attorney General’s Office of being one of those responsible for drafting the coup plan produced toward the end of the Bolsonaro administration.

Mário Fernandes was accused of devising a plan to kill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Moraes. The plan was outlined in a Word document titled “Green and Yellow Dagger.”

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Marcelo Câmara also illegally monitored the daily routine of Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

According to messages seized from the cell phone of Mauro Cid, a whistleblower and former aide to Bolsonaro, Câmara informed him that Moraes would be in São Paulo and referred to the justice as “professor.” The messages date from December 2022.

Silvinei Vasques, former director of the Federal Highway Police, acted to block the movement of voters supporting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the second round of the 2022 elections.

Marília de Alencar was responsible for collecting data that formed the basis for the roadblocks.

Defenses

In December last year, the defendants’ defense teams denied the charges and argued for acquittal.

Overview

The Supreme Court has already convicted 29 defendants for their participation in the coup plot. Currently, 20 are serving sentences in closed detention.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro, former Minister of Institutional Security Augusto Heleno, and former Director of Intelligence at the Ministry of Justice Marília de Alencar are under house arrest.

Army officers Márcio Nunes de Resende Júnior and Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Júnior signed plea agreements with the Attorney General’s Office and were not arrested. They received sentences of three years and five months and one year and 11 months, respectively.

Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former aide, signed a plea agreement and is already free.

Three arrest warrants have not yet been executed. Former congressman Alexandre Ramagem, Voto Legal Institute president Carlos Cesar Moretzsohn Rocha, and Army colonel Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu are fugitives living abroad.

Former federal congressman Alexandre Ramagem was released on Wednesday (Apr. 15) after spending two days in custody in the United States, where he is wanted by Brazilian authorities.

On Monday (13), Ramagem was approached by agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and detained in Orlando, Florida.

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The former lawmaker is no longer listed in the region’s detention records.

The reasons for Ramagem’s release were not disclosed by US authorities.

Ramagem is the subject of an extradition request filed by the Brazilian government with US officials.

Escape

In September last year, Alexandre Ramagem, former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN), fled the country to avoid serving a 16-year prison sentence for his role in the coup plot during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The head of Brazil’s Supreme Court, Justice Edson Fachin, refuted accusations of censorship against digital platforms contained in a report by the US House Judiciary Committee released Thursday (Apr. 2).

Written by lawmakers who support President Donald Trump, the report states that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes committed acts of censorship against freedom of speech in the US by ordering the suspension of social media accounts belonging to Brazilians living in there who are accused of carrying out online attacks against Brazilian institutions.

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In an official statement, Justice Fachin said the report has “distorted characterizations” of the nature and scope of certain court decisions.

He also argued that the Brazilian legal system protects freedom of speech, but that this right is not absolute.

“It is understood that, in certain cases, freedom of speech may exceptionally be subject to specific limitations, particularly when these are necessary to preserve the effectiveness of another fundamental right. Similarly, one cannot invoke the right to freedom of speech to commit crimes defined by law,” he stated.

He also stressed that Justice Moraes’ orders to remove illegal content were issued as part of investigations into digital militias accused of committing crimes against democracy and attempting a coup d’état in Brazil.

“The legal framework established by the 1988 Federal Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, elevates freedom of speech to the status of a preferential right among fundamental rights. Other rights prevail over it only in exceptional cases, under the law, particularly in situations where freedom of expression is invoked to commit crimes defined by the law,” he added.