Bolsonaro Arrested Ahead of Prison Sentence

BRASILIA — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was taken into custody on Saturday morning, just days before he was scheduled to begin serving a 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt following his 2022 election loss.

Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the preemptive arrest, citing strong evidence that the 70-year-old politician was intent on escaping his sentence.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the case, issued the ruling after receiving information that Bolsonaro’s ankle monitor, which he has worn since July 18 as a flight risk measure, was violated shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Justice de Moraes directly linked the violation to political mobilization.

“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 organized by his son,” the justice stated.

De Moraes specifically cited a video published this week by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, which encouraged supporters to rally on the streets in his father’s defense. The judge chastised the video for “stimulat[ing] the disrespect to the constitutional text… showing there’s no limits for the criminal organisation in its attempt to create chaos.”

Bolsonaro was taken from his house arrest in the upscale Jardim Botanico neighborhood to the headquarters of the country’s federal police in Brasilia at approximately 6am. The judge specified the arrest should be handled “without the use of handcuffs and without any media exposition.”

The preemptive arrest comes as the far-right leader had exhausted all appeals of his conviction for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his loss to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors successfully argued that the coup plot included plans to kill Lula and encourage a large-scale insurrection in early 2023.

Bolsonaro was convicted on charges including leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing. Though the arrest does not constitute the start of his sentence—Brazilian law requires all convicts start in prison—it removes him from house arrest immediately.