Brazil’s top court has issued house arrest orders for 10 people who were convicted and sentenced for participating in a plot to keep former President Jair Bolsonaro in power after his election defeat in 2022.
The decision by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes on Saturday came after authorities in neighbouring Paraguay arrested a former police commander who had also been convicted in the plot, as he was trying to board a flight to El Salvador using a fake Paraguayan passport.
Silvinei Vasques, the former director of Brazil’s federal highway police, was extradited to Brazil on Friday night. He was then placed in pre-trial detention.
According to Brazilian police, Vasques tore off his ankle monitor on Thursday and drove to Paraguay in a rental car.
The 10 people, who were subjected to house arrest orders on Saturday, had remained free despite their conviction because they were appealing their case.
They had faced cautionary measures, like the use of ankle monitors, or had been ordered to stay at the same location every night.
De Moraes said in his decision that the 10 officials helped plan the coup plot, sought legal justification for it, or spread disinformation on social media to help Bolsonaro stay in power.
Among them was Filipe Martins, a former adviser to Bolsonaro.
Martins’s lawyer, Jeffrey Chiquini, said on X that they would file an appeal.
“Filipe Martins had been wearing an electronic ankle monitor until today and wasn’t allowed to leave his city,” Chiquini said in a video posted on Instagram. “So, what changed?”
In addition to the house arrest order, the Supreme Court also banned the individuals from receiving visits, using social media or contacting others currently under investigation, the AFP news agency reported, citing a statement by the federal police.
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