Brazil's federal police arrested former president Jair Bolsonaro over suspicion he was plotting to escape to avoid starting his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt. 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 act in his favour.
In a dramatic and unexpected twist in the final stage of a long and divisive criminal trial, federal agents entered Bolsonaro's house 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, Brasilia.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case on Bolsonaro’s attempt to keep the presidency after his defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022, ordered the preemptive arrest after saying the far-right leader’s ankle monitor was violated at 12:08am on Saturday. His lawyers claimed in a statement that did not take place.
A report by custody agents released later in the day said Bolsonaro admitted using a soldering iron to try to open the device. In a court video seen by AP, Bolsonaro is heard admitting such 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 6am on Saturday.
In the following hours, dozens of cars honked outside the federal police's headquarters as some Bolsonaro supporters protested. Police have since tried keep the small, but fierce, opposing sides separated.
De Moraes said the arrest was a preventive measure to avoid a potential escape during a protest organised by his son later Saturday.
“Are you going to fight for your country or are you going to watch it all from your cellphone in your home's sofa?," Flávio Bolsonaro said in a video inviting people to go outside his fathers' house at 7pm. “I invite you to fight with us.”
De Moraes said the attempt to break the ankle monitor was a confirmation Bolsonaro would try to escape during "the confusion that would be caused by a demonstration organised by his son”.
The judge said there was a chance of Bolsonaro fleeing to the US Embassy in Brasilia. The Supreme Court justice also mentioned other defendants in the coup case and political allies of the former president leaving Brazil to avoid jail.
“He is located about 13 kilometres (8 miles) away from where the United States of America embassy lies, in a distance that can be covered in a 15-minute drive,” said de Moraes, who has been sanctioned by the Trump administration.
In August, Brazil's federal police found messages that linked Bolsonaro to a political asylum request to Argentina, where an ally of his, Javier Milei, is president.
Trump was asked outside the White House on Saturday about Bolsonaro’s arrest, but said that was the first he was hearing of it. “Is that what happened? That’s too bad,” he said. Pressed for further comment, he said: “I just think it’s too bad."
Trump also said he’d spoken with Lula on Friday night and that the two might be meeting “in the very near future”.
Bolsonaro's lawyers said in a statement that the former president's arrest “causes deep perplexity because, as (de Moraes's) chronology of facts shows, it is based in a vigil for prayer,” not a protest.
The preemptive arrest of Bolsonaro, who is an ally of US.President Donald Trump, will be discussed and voted on Monday by the five-justice Supreme Court panel that both convicted and sentenced him to prison by 4 votes to 1 in September.
Local media reported that Bolsonaro, who was Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022 and remains a key political player, was expected to begin serving his sentence sometime next week after all appeals of his conviction are exhausted.
Few protesters were outside the federal police headquarters in Brasilia as of Saturday morning, with more expected later as organizers of the vigil mentioned by Bolsonaro's lawyers say they will move it to where the former president is jailed.
Detractors of the former president were celebrating online and scheduling parties later in the day in major Brazilian cities.
“The video shot by Flávio Bolsonaro stimulates the disrespect to the constitutional text, to the judicial decision and to (democratic) institutions, showing there's no limits for the criminal organization in its attempt to create chaos and conflict in this country, in a total disrespect to democracy,” de Moraes wrote in his ruling.
In a dramatic and unexpected twist in the final stage of a long and divisive criminal trial, federal agents entered Bolsonaro's house 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, Brasilia.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case on Bolsonaro’s attempt to keep the presidency after his defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022, ordered the preemptive arrest after saying the far-right leader’s ankle monitor was violated at 12:08am on Saturday. His lawyers claimed in a statement that did not take place.
A report by custody agents released later in the day said Bolsonaro admitted using a soldering iron to try to open the device. In a court video seen by AP, Bolsonaro is heard admitting such 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 6am on Saturday.
In the following hours, dozens of cars honked outside the federal police's headquarters as some Bolsonaro supporters protested. Police have since tried keep the small, but fierce, opposing sides separated.
De Moraes said the arrest was a preventive measure to avoid a potential escape during a protest organised by his son later Saturday.
“Are you going to fight for your country or are you going to watch it all from your cellphone in your home's sofa?," Flávio Bolsonaro said in a video inviting people to go outside his fathers' house at 7pm. “I invite you to fight with us.”
De Moraes said the attempt to break the ankle monitor was a confirmation Bolsonaro would try to escape during "the confusion that would be caused by a demonstration organised by his son”.
The judge said there was a chance of Bolsonaro fleeing to the US Embassy in Brasilia. The Supreme Court justice also mentioned other defendants in the coup case and political allies of the former president leaving Brazil to avoid jail.
“He is located about 13 kilometres (8 miles) away from where the United States of America embassy lies, in a distance that can be covered in a 15-minute drive,” said de Moraes, who has been sanctioned by the Trump administration.
In August, Brazil's federal police found messages that linked Bolsonaro to a political asylum request to Argentina, where an ally of his, Javier Milei, is president.
Trump was asked outside the White House on Saturday about Bolsonaro’s arrest, but said that was the first he was hearing of it. “Is that what happened? That’s too bad,” he said. Pressed for further comment, he said: “I just think it’s too bad."
Trump also said he’d spoken with Lula on Friday night and that the two might be meeting “in the very near future”.
Bolsonaro's lawyers said in a statement that the former president's arrest “causes deep perplexity because, as (de Moraes's) chronology of facts shows, it is based in a vigil for prayer,” not a protest.
The preemptive arrest of Bolsonaro, who is an ally of US.President Donald Trump, will be discussed and voted on Monday by the five-justice Supreme Court panel that both convicted and sentenced him to prison by 4 votes to 1 in September.
Local media reported that Bolsonaro, who was Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022 and remains a key political player, was expected to begin serving his sentence sometime next week after all appeals of his conviction are exhausted.
Few protesters were outside the federal police headquarters in Brasilia as of Saturday morning, with more expected later as organizers of the vigil mentioned by Bolsonaro's lawyers say they will move it to where the former president is jailed.
Detractors of the former president were celebrating online and scheduling parties later in the day in major Brazilian cities.
“The video shot by Flávio Bolsonaro stimulates the disrespect to the constitutional text, to the judicial decision and to (democratic) institutions, showing there's no limits for the criminal organization in its attempt to create chaos and conflict in this country, in a total disrespect to democracy,” de Moraes wrote in his ruling.
