Brazil’s Bolsonaro arrested for allegedly plotting escape ahead of prison term : NPR
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stands at the entrance to his home where he was under house arrest in Brasilia, Brazil, September 2.
Luis Nova/AP
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Luis Nova/AP
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s Supreme Court on Saturday ordered the preventive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro, with a judge saying he intended to escape just days before beginning his 27-year prison sentence for leading an attempted coup.
The 70-year-old politician was taken to the country’s federal police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, after his house arrest.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case, said in his ruling that Bolsonaro’s ankle monitor, which he has worn since July 18 because it was considered a flight risk, was breached at 12:08 a.m. Saturday.
“This information demonstrates the condemned man’s intention to break the ankle monitoring system to ensure the success of his escape, which would be facilitated by the confusion that a demonstration organized by his son would cause,” the court said.
He said it was possible Bolsonaro would flee to embassies in his neighborhood to seek political asylum. The Supreme Court judge also mentioned other defendants in the coup case and political allies of the former president who left Brazil to avoid prison.
The Supreme Court committee handling Bolsonaro’s case will vote on De Moraes’ order in a special session on Monday.
De Moraes said Bolsonaro’s arrest “should be carried out with all respect for the dignity of former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, without the use of handcuffs and without any media exposure.”
Bolsonaro aide Andriely Cirino confirmed to The Associated Press that the arrest took place around 6 a.m. Saturday, just hours after de Moraes made the unexpected decision.
The former president was taken from his home in a gated community in the upscale Jardim Botanico neighborhood to federal police headquarters, Cirino said.
De Moraes mentioned in his decision a video released this week by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, in which he incited his supporters to take to the streets to defend his father.
“The video shot by Flávio Bolsonaro stimulates the lack of respect towards the constitutional text, towards the judicial decision and towards the (democratic) institutions, showing that there are no limits to the criminal organization in its attempt to create chaos and conflict in this country, in a total lack of respect towards democracy,” wrote de Moraes.
“Brazilian democracy has reached sufficient maturity to avoid and prosecute pathetic illegal initiatives aimed at defending the criminal organization responsible for an attempted coup in Brazil,” he added.
Bolsonaro’s allies pledge to defend him
Some Bolsonaro supporters, who say he is being politically persecuted, are expected to rally outside the federal police headquarters throughout the weekend.
Sóstenes Cavalcante, leader of Bolsonaro’s party in the lower house, said in a video shared with the Associated Press that the former president was innocent and accused de Moraes of displaying “psychopathy at the highest level.”
“We will always be at your side. Stay strong,” he said, addressing Bolsonaro. “We will respond appropriately.”
Former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro promised on social media that she would “not abandon our nation.”
“I believe in God’s justice. Human justice, as we have seen, no longer holds,” she wrote on Instagram.
Fabio Wajngarten, Bolsonaro’s former press adviser and lawyer, called the decision to arrest him “a terrible stain on institutions” in a video posted on X. “It’s a shame. I hope this will be reviewed soon,” he said.
He also claimed that Bolsonaro’s ankle monitoring device was working perfectly on Saturday morning. “How could something that was broken, violated, function normally nine hours later?” he wrote.
“The president had dinner yesterday – soup – with four brothers and brothers-in-law, took medicine for hiccups, felt drowsy and went to bed around 10 p.m. None of his sons were home.”
Renato Bolsonaro, the former president’s brother, also criticized the arrest, saying in an Instagram video: “So we can’t even come together to cry for justice or pray for our president? Do they want to take away our right to express ourselves?”
A character who divides Brazilian politics
Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest in early August, weeks before he was convicted in his coup trial. His lawyers implored Brazil’s Supreme Court to keep him at home to serve his sentence, citing his poor health.
Local media reported that Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, is expected to begin serving his sentence next week after the far-right leader exhausted all appeals over his conviction for leading an attempted coup.
Saturday’s preventive arrest does not mean that Bolsonaro will remain at federal police headquarters to serve his sentence. Brazilian law requires all convicts to begin their sentence in prison.
The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court judges of trying to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors said the coup plot included killing Lula and encouraging an insurrection in early 2023.
Bolsonaro was also convicted of leading an armed criminal organization and attempting to violently abolish the democratic rule of law. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing.
He remains a key figure in Brazilian politics, although he is not eligible to run again until at least 2030, after a separate ruling by Brazil’s top electoral court. Polls show he would be a strong candidate in next year’s election if he is allowed to run.
Bolsonaro is an ally of US President Donald Trump, who has called his trial a “witch hunt”. Bolsonaro was mentioned in a July order from the US administration increasing tariffs on several Brazilian exports by 50%. Trump scrapped most of the higher tariffs on Brazilian exports on Friday.
