Silvinei Vasques, former Federal Highway Police director sentenced to over 24 years in prison for the 2022 coup plot, was transferred to Papudinha prison in Brasília after his arrest in Paraguay during a failed flight attempt to El Salvador using a fake passport. Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered house arrests for 10 other defendants to curb similar escapes.
Silvinei Vasques, convicted on December 16 by the STF's First Panel for coup-related crimes including attempted coup d'état and election interference, violated house arrest in Santa Catarina on December 24 by cutting off his ankle monitor and fleeing to Paraguay in a rented car with belongings and his dog. He was arrested on December 26 at Asunción's Silvio Pettirossi International Airport while boarding a flight via Panama, using a fake Paraguayan passport and a letter falsely claiming brain cancer treatment needs.
Handed over to Brazilian Federal Police in Foz do Iguaçu that evening, Vasques arrived in Brasília on December 27 around 1:15 p.m. and was transferred to the 19th Military Police Battalion (Papudinha) prison at 4:30 p.m. He now shares a cell with former Justice Minister Anderson Torres in a four-person unit equipped with fridge, hot shower, TV, and five daily meals. Moraes decreed his preventive detention for breaching measures.
To prevent further flights, Moraes imposed house arrests with electronic monitoring on 10 coup plot defendants, including ex-Bolsonaro advisor Filipe Martins and military officers like Ângelo Denicoli and Bernardo Romão Corrêa Netto. They must surrender passports, avoid contacts, and refrain from social media. Initially, Carlos Cesar Moretzsohn Rocha (Instituto Voto Legal president) was unlocated after changing addresses in São Paulo, and Guilherme Marques de Almeida was in Bahia but committed to comply in Goiânia. An auxiliary judge upheld eight arrests post-hearings. Moraes cited patterns like Alexandre Ramagem's U.S. escape as the group's modus operandi.
