Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was placed under federal police custody on Saturday just before a planned gathering of his supporters near his residence, concluding a period of house arrest while he appealed a Supreme Court conviction for involvement in a coup plot.
Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Celso Vilardi, confirmed the detention without specifying a cause. A federal police spokesperson mentioned that Bolsonaro underwent intake procedures in Brasilia on Saturday morning.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the custody in a court ruling, referencing concerns that the presence of supporters camped outside could impede police supervision of Bolsonaro’s house arrest. Moraes also highlighted evidence of tampering with the former president’s ankle monitor the previous night.
In his decision for the detention on Saturday, Moraes stated, “The disruption caused by an unlawful assembly of the convict’s supporters poses a significant risk to the house arrest and other precautionary measures, potentially facilitating his escape.”
The judge pointed out indications that Bolsonaro had contemplated seeking refuge at the Argentine Embassy in Brasilia. Moraes also noted that one of Bolsonaro’s sons and other close associates had fled Brazil to evade the jurisdiction of the country’s courts.
Another attorney representing Bolsonaro declined immediate comment on the court ruling.
Following his defeat in the 2022 election to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the right-wing former leader was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for conspiring to stage a coup.
Bolsonaro was identified as the mastermind and primary beneficiary of a plan to prevent Lula from assuming office in 2023. Nonetheless, a final arrest warrant has not been issued in that case as Bolsonaro has not exhausted all legal avenues.
For over 100 days, Bolsonaro has been strictly confined to his residence for breaching precautionary measures in a separate case involving alleged solicitation of U.S. intervention to obstruct the legal proceedings against him.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had a rapport with Bolsonaro during their concurrent terms, denounced the case as a “witch hunt.” He imposed sanctions on Moraes, the overseeing justice, and initiated a 50% tariff on certain Brazilian imports, a measure that he has begun to rescind this month.
During his house arrest, Bolsonaro was prohibited from using social media but received visits from political allies.
His son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, urged supporters on social media to assemble outside his father’s condominium in Brasilia on Saturday evening.
“I urge you to join us in the fight,” the senator expressed in a video circulated online. “With your power, the power of the people, we will resist and restore Brazil.”
Should his appeals prove unsuccessful, Bolsonaro’s defense is anticipated to request authorization for him to serve his nearly 30-year sentence under house arrest, citing various health complications. The former president, who endured a stabbing to the abdomen during a 2018 campaign event, has a medical history of hospitalizations and surgeries linked to the assault.
Bolsonaro had previously been barred from running for public office until 2030 after Brazil’s electoral tribunal found him culpable of misusing his position during his 2022 re-election bid.