Jair Bolsonaro is days away from starting a 27-year prison sentence after Brazil’s Supreme Court found him guilty of attempting to subvert democracy. Photo / Getty Images
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested for allegedly trying to escape days before he was set to start his 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup.
Brazil’s populist former President, 70, who has been under strict house arrest, was detained in Brasilia and taken to the federal police headquarters after he allegedly tried to break his electronic ankle tag.
Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court judge, said Bolsonaro, who has yet to begin his prison term, was a “high flight risk”.
Within days, Bolsonaro is set to begin his 27-year prison sentence after the country’s Supreme Court found him guilty of attempting to subvert democracy following his failed re-election bid in 2022.
In his ruling, Moraes said Bolsonaro’s ankle monitor, which he has worn since July 18, was violated at 12.08am on Saturday local time. The judge rarely issues rulings on Saturdays unless security risks are involved.
He also cited the risk of encamped supporters, who had planned a vigil near Bolsonaro’s home, hampering police monitoring of the former President’s house arrest.
“That information shows the intent of the convict to break the ankle monitoring to assure his escape is successful, which would be made easier by the confusion that would be caused by a demonstration organised by his son,” the judge said.
The judge cited evidence that Bolsonaro had previously considered seeking asylum in the Argentine embassy in Brasilia. One of his sons and other close allies have fled Brazil to avoid the reach of the country’s courts, Moraes noted in his decision.
A majority of the five judges hearing the case concluded that Bolsonaro and seven senior aides effectively attempted a coup after refusing to accept defeat to his left-wing nemesis Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, known simply as “Lula”.
Bolsonaro was identified as the leader and main beneficiary of a scheme to prevent Lula from taking office in 2023. However, the courts have still not issued a final arrest order in that case, as Bolsonaro has not exhausted the appeals process.
For more than 100 days, Bolsonaro has been under strict house arrest for violating precautionary measures in a separate case over allegedly courting US interference to halt the criminal case against him.
Some of Bolsonaro’s supporters, who claim he is being politically persecuted, are expected to rally outside the federal police headquarters throughout the weekend following his arrest.
The Supreme Court panel hearing Bolsonaro’s case will vote on De Moraes’ order in an extraordinary session on Monday local time.
Moraes said the arrest “should be made with all respect to the dignity of former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro”. Unmarked police cars arrived for the arrest, and Bolsonaro was not handcuffed.
Michelle Bolsonaro, the former first lady, wrote on social media: “I trust in the Lord”, while Celso Vilardi, one of Bolsonaro’s lawyers, earlier said: “He has been imprisoned, but I don’t know why”.
Fabio Wajngarten, Bolsonaro’s former press adviser and lawyer, called the decision to arrest him “a terrible stain on the institutions” in a video posted on X. “It’s a shame. I hope this is reviewed soon,” he said.
He also claimed that Bolsonaro’s ankle monitoring device was working perfectly. “How could something that was broken, violated, be functioning normally nine hours later?” he wrote.
“The President had dinner – a soup – yesterday with four brothers and brothers-in-law, took medication for hiccups, felt drowsy and lay down at around 10pm. None of his sons was at the house.”
Renato Bolsonaro, the former President’s brother, also criticised the arrest, saying in an Instagram video: “So we can’t even gather to cry out for justice or pray for our president? Do they want to take away our right to express ourselves?”
Bolsonaro and several allies were convicted in September of attempting to overturn the 2022 election, which he lost to Lula. Prosecutors said the plot included plans to kill Lula and to trigger an insurrection in early 2023.
Bolsonaro has exhausted all avenues of appeal and was expected to begin serving his 27-year and three-month sentence next week.
His lawyers have pleaded for him to be allowed to remain under house arrest on health grounds. They had previously argued that Bolsonaro’s medical needs were “absolutely incompatible with a common prison environment”.
Bolsonaro suffers ongoing consequences of a stab wound to the abdomen received during a knife attack on the campaign trail in 2018.
Despite being barred from running for office until at least 2030 after a separate ruling by the electoral court, Bolsonaro remains a potent force in Brazilian politics, with polls suggesting he would be a frontrunner in next year’s election if permitted to stand.
The former President, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, has spent more than 100 days under house arrest for violating precautionary measures in another case involving alleged efforts to seek US interference to halt criminal proceedings against him. He was barred from using social media but continued to receive visits from political allies.
The pre-emptive arrest does not mean Bolsonaro will remain at the federal police headquarters to serve his sentence.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers said they planned to file an “appropriate appeal”.
In a statement, they said their client’s detention caused “deep perplexity”, noting that what would be a “prayer vigil” was guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution under the right to religious freedom.
“Despite claiming the ‘existence of very serious evidence of a possible escape,’ the fact is that the former president was arrested at his home, with an electronic ankle monitor and under police surveillance,” they added.
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