Brazilian Cops Arrest Convicted Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro

Brazil’s federal police on Saturday arrested former president Jair Bolsonaro over suspicion that he was plotting to escape and avoid starting a 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt.

A judge ordered Bolsonaro's preemptive arrest after the far-right leader’s ankle monitor was violated at 12:08 a.m. on Saturday. (Photo: Isac Nóbrega / PR, Palácio do Planalto Flickr)

The decision laid bare some of the country’s divisions, with many uncorking champagne outside the far-right leader’s prison to celebrate as his supporters prepared a religious vigil in his favor, Mauricio Savarese and Lucas Dumphreys reported for the Associated Press (AP).

In a dramatic and unexpected twist in the final stage of a long and divisive criminal trial, federal agents entered Bolsonaro’s home early Saturday under the order of a Supreme Court justice to take the former president to the headquarters of the country’s federal police in the capital, Brasília.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case on Bolsonaro’s attempt to keep the presidency after his defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022, ordered the preemptive arrest after saying the far-right leader’s ankle monitor was violated at 12:08 a.m. on Saturday.

His lawyers claimed in a statement that this did not take place.

A report by custody agents released later in the day — and reviewed by AP — said Bolsonaro admitted using a soldering iron to try to open the device. In a court video also seen by AP, Bolsonaro is heard admitting to the attempt.

The footage shows the ankle monitor’s cap heavily damaged.

Bolsonaro, 70, who had been under house arrest, was ordered to wear the device after being deemed a flight risk. His aide Andriely Cirino confirmed that the arrest took place around 6 a.m. on Saturday, Gabriela Sá Pessoa and Will Weissert also reported for AP.