Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of former Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, from the federal police headquarters in Brasilia to the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, where he will have “more favourable conditions” to live in.
According to the court’s ruling, Bolsonaro has been assigned a 54-65-square-metre suite that includes a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and a 10-square-metre outside area that he can access.
The decision to transfer the beleaguered former Brazil President to a larger facility came after Bolsonaro’s family raised concerns about his prison conditions and access to medical care, though Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes rejected claims of mistreatment, saying the former president had been convicted of extremely grave offences and that his custodial sentence was not a “hotel stay or vacation colony”.
“Regrettably and falsely, there has been a systematic attempt to delegitimise the regular and lawful execution of the custodial sentence of Jair Messias Bolsonaro, which has been carried out with full respect for human dignity,” the judge said.
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Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year and three-month prison sentence for plotting a failed coup to overturn the result of his 2022 election defeat to current Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, including plans to assassinate Lula and Justice Moraes.
The former president’s defence counsel has been pushing for a transfer to house arrest on medical grounds, which has been denied so far.
In December 2025, Brazil’s Congress passed a bill that would have reduced sentences for those convicted in connection with the January 8, 2023, riots and related offences, potentially affecting Bolsonaro’s term. However, President Lula vetoed the legislation on January 8, 2026.
Brazil’s next presidential elections are due in October 2026, in which Lula will seek a fourth term and possibly face Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who is endorsed by his father as the Liberal Party candidate in what will be a tightly-contested election.
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