Brazil judge orders 24-hrs surveillance of flight risk Bolsonaro

A Brazilian judge on Tuesday declared far right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest while awaiting the verdict in his coup-plotting trial, a "flight risk" and placed him under round-the-clock watch. Bolsonaro faces 40 years in prison if convicted of plotting to cling onto power after losing 2022 elections to left-winger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The verdict in the case is expected early next month.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the trial, asked the police to carry out "full-time surveillance" of former army captain Bolsonaro, according to a court document seen by AFP. Moraes was acting on a request from the Brazilian prosecutor's office. The prosecutors pointed to recent revelations that Bolsonaro planned to seek asylum in Argentina last year as proof that the 70-year-old could seek to evade a possible lengthy jail term.

In his draft asylum request, the man dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics" during his 2019-2022 presidency claimed he was the victim of political persecution. Bolsonaro is accused of leading a criminal organization that aimed to prevent Lula taking power after he narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in October 2022 elections.

The trial has driven a deep wedge between Lula and US President Donald Trump, who has slammed the indictment of his ally Bolsonaro as a "witch hunt" and punished those responsible for putting him in the dock. The Trump administration has also imposed crippling 50-percent tariffs on dozens of Brazilian imports and sanctioned Moraes, a hate figure on the Brazilian and US right, among other Supreme Court justices. "These attitudes are unacceptable, not only against the minister but against all Supreme Court justices, against any Brazilian figure," Lula told the cabinet meeting.