Brazil: Bolsonaro placed in custody over alleged coup plot

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was taken into preventive custody under a Federal Supreme Court order in connection with an alleged coup plot. Bolsonaro, detained at his Brasília home and moved to Federal Police headquarters, had been under house arrest since August. The precautionary measure is intended to protect public order as investigations continue. He has been taken into police custody after the country’s Supreme Court deemed him a flight risk for tampering with his ankle monitor.
In a video made public by the court, Bolsonaro admitted that he had used a soldering iron on the monitoring bracelet out of “curiosity”. The footage showed the device badly damaged and burned, but still on his ankle.Bolsonaro’s son, Flavio, who had called for the vigil, had urged Bolsonaro supporters to come and “fight for your country”. Bolsonaro’s lawyers said they would appeal the detention order.
Bolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The former army captain was identified as the leader and main beneficiary of a scheme to prevent Lula from taking office in 2023. Bolsonaro faces multiple Supreme Court and Federal Police probes over actions during and after his presidency. The plot allegedly involved a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, and Moraes.
In his Saturday ruling, Moraes also highlighted the proximity of Bolsonaro’s home to the United States embassy, raising the risk of him seeking political asylum. Bolsonaro is an ally of US President Donald Trump, who had called the trial a “witch-hunt” and imposed punitive tariffs and sanctions against Brazil over it. Moraes also cited evidence that Bolsonaro had previously considered seeking asylum in the Argentinian embassy in Brasilia. One of his sons, federal lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, and other close allies have fled Brazil to avoid the reach of the country’s courts, the judge noted in his decision.