Brazil’s Supreme Court upholds Jair Bolsonaro’s imprisonment after he damaged his ankle monitor, citing flight risk concerns and alleged escape attempt
BRASÍLIA: Brazil’s Supreme Court has voted to uphold the imprisonment of former president Jair Bolsonaro following his detention for tampering with his electronic monitoring device.
The far-right leader was taken into custody on Saturday from his home where he had been under house arrest while appealing a 27-year sentence for plotting a failed coup.
Bolsonaro was convicted in September for scheming to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections, which included an assassination plot against the leftist leader.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that Bolsonaro had “willfully and consciously violated the electronic monitoring equipment.”
Three other justices in the court’s first chamber also voted to uphold the detention, making the decision official when the virtual session ended at 8:00 pm local time.
Moraes cited “very serious indications of a possible attempt to flee” during a planned vigil organized by Bolsonaro’s son outside his residence.
The justice pointed to the nearby US embassy and Bolsonaro’s close relationship with US President Donald Trump as factors suggesting he might seek political asylum.
During a Sunday hearing, Bolsonaro stated he “experienced a certain paranoia between Friday and Saturday due to medication,” according to a Supreme Court document.
He asserted “that he had no intention of fleeing and that there was no breakage of the bracelet’s strap.”
In a video made public by the court, Bolsonaro claimed he used a soldering iron on the monitoring bracelet out of “curiosity.”
The footage showed the device badly damaged and burned but still attached to his ankle.
His lawyers requested the court return Bolsonaro to “humanitarian house arrest” due to his “state of mental confusion” from medications.
The Supreme Court has already denied one appeal of Bolsonaro’s sentence, with his lawyers having until midnight Monday to file another challenge. – AFP
