Brazil Court Upholds Bolsonaro’s Jailing After Alleged Attempt to Flee

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday voted to uphold the arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was detained over the weekend for allegedly tampering with his electronic ankle monitor using a soldering iron.

Bolsonaro was taken into custody on Saturday from his Brasília home, where he had been serving house arrest after being declared a flight risk while appealing a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a failed coup. The far-right leader was convicted in September for orchestrating efforts to block President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election — a scheme that prosecutors said included an assassination plot against the incoming president.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that Bolsonaro had “willfully and consciously violated the electronic monitoring equipment.” All three other justices in the court’s first chamber voted the same way. The decision will become official once the virtual session concludes at 23:00 GMT.

Moraes said investigators had found “very serious indications of a possible attempt to flee” during a vigil organized by Bolsonaro’s son outside the former president’s residence. He also cited the nearby U.S. Embassy and Bolsonaro’s close ties to former U.S. President Donald Trump as factors raising concern that Bolsonaro might seek political asylum.

During a Sunday hearing, Bolsonaro claimed he had been experiencing “a certain paranoia” due to medication and insisted he had not attempted to flee or damaged the monitor’s strap. However, in a separate video released by the court, Bolsonaro acknowledged using a soldering iron on the device out of “curiosity.” Footage showed the monitor visibly burned and severely damaged, though still attached to his ankle.

Bolsonaro’s legal team has requested that he be returned to “humanitarian house arrest,” arguing he is in a “state of mental confusion” attributed to his medications. The Supreme Court has already rejected one appeal of his 27-year sentence. His lawyers have until midnight Monday to file another challenge.