Julia Carneiro

This closes a turbulent chapter after a historic trial in Brazil, which was condemned by the Trump administration and led to U.S.

sanctions and the unprecedented conviction of a former president for trying to overthrow the government.

For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro in Rio.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes declared Bolsonaro's case closed after his defense exhausted appeals against his conviction.

The former president's preemptive arrest on Saturday is now definite, and his sentence of 27 years and three months is counting.

The far-right leader is now confined to a small room with a single bed, a private bathroom, a TV set and a desk in the federal police headquarters in Brasília.

Bolsonaro's lawyers had requested his house arrest, citing poor health, but Moraes did not concede.

This closes a turbulent chapter after a historic trial in Brazil, which was condemned by the Trump administration and led to U.S.

sanctions and the unprecedented conviction of a former president for trying to overthrow the government.

For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro in Rio.

A Supreme Court panel with four justices voted unanimously to maintain Bolsonaro's preemptive arrest.

The far-right leader was detained over the weekend, hours after a vigil was called outside his home and he used a soldering iron to try to open his ankle monitor.

The court argued that tampering with the device indicated flight risk and a blatant violation of precautionary measures set by the judiciary.

Under custody, the former president told a judge he was having hallucinations after a change in medication and thought there was a wiretap in the ankle monitor.

Bolsonaro has been sentenced to over 27 years in prison for attempting a coup after losing his 2022 re-election bid.

For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro in Rio.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro told the judge he started tampering with his ankle monitor because he was having a nervous breakdown and hallucinating that there was a wiretap in the device, which he attributed to a change in medication.

Bolsonaro was arrested hours after an alarm was sent.

After being taken into custody, Bolsonaro told a police agent he had used, quote, a soldering iron out of, quote, curiosity.

He is since detained in a room with a private bathroom in the federal police headquarters in Brasília.