Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after allegedly trying to open his ankle monitor with a soldering iron in a bid to flee and avoid a jail term, according to court documents.
Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the detainment of Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison in September for leading a coup attempt after losing the 2022 election, early on Saturday.
The 70-year-old – who had been under house arrest – was taken to the headquarters of the country’s federal police in the capital, Brasilia.
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 after being deemed a flight risk, had been tampered with early on Saturday.
According to court documents, the ankle monitor showed “clear and significant signs of malfunction”, with burn marks around it.
“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,” he said.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers denied the ankle monitor claims in a statement.
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Mr De Moraes added that there was a chance of Bolsonaro fleeing to an embassy in his neighbourhood to request political asylum. The justice also referenced other defendants in the coup case who had left Brazil to avoid prison.
The Supreme Court panel hearing Bolsonaro’s case will vote on the justice’s order in an extraordinary session Monday.
Mr De Moraes mentioned in his ruling a video published this week by senator Flavio Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, in which he encouraged supporters to take to the streets.
“The video stimulates the disrespect to the constitutional text, to the judicial decision and to [democratic] institutions, showing there’s no limits for the criminal organisation in its attempt to create chaos and conflict in this country, in a total disrespect to democracy,” Mr De Moraes wrote.
Some of Bolsonaro’s supporters, who claim he is being politically persecuted, are expected to rally outside the federal police headquarters.
Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest in early August, weeks before he was convicted in his coup trial. His lawyers were pleading with Brazil’s Supreme Court to keep him at home to serve his sentence, citing his poor health.
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Local media reported Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, was expected to begin serving his sentence sometime next week after he exhausted all appeals against his conviction.
Bolsonaro and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his election loss to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro denied wrongdoing.
