The Federal Police of Brazil detained former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro preemptively on Saturday. He was convicted of attempting a coup d'état and was already under house arrest.
A group of agents went to Bolsonaro's residence in Brasilia and arrested the far-right leader, who was immediately taken to a police facility.
According to the Globo group, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered the preventive detention of the former head of state «to guarantee public order».
The Federal Police of Brazil informed in a brief statement that «this Saturday, in Brasilia, it complied with a preventive detention order in accordance with a decision by the Supreme Court,» although it did not specify against whom.
The detention of the former head of state occurred one day after his lawyers requested the high court to be able to serve the 27-year prison sentence he received for attempting a coup d'état under house arrest for health reasons.
On September 11, Bolsonaro was convicted by the First Chamber of the Supreme Court for attempting to «perpetuate himself» in power with the support of former ministers and military commanders, after losing the 2022 elections to the current ruler, the progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The 70-year-old far-right leader had been under house arrest at his residence in Brasilia since August 4 for violating a series of precautionary measures in the context of that case.
According to local media, the preventive detention this Saturday is not the beginning of the sentence execution, which was expected in the coming weeks, after the Supreme Court rejected the first appeals against the verdict.
In the context of the coup attempt case, the Supreme Court also ordered on Friday the preventive detention of deputy Alexandre Ramagem, a Bolsonaro ally who was also convicted in the same trial as the former president, after allegedly fleeing to the United States.
Investigations indicate that the parliamentarian left Brazil last September through the state of Roraima, bordering Venezuela, and continued clandestinely to that country or to French Guiana, before heading to the United States.
Ramagem, former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency, received a 16-year prison sentence in a closed regime for the crimes of criminal organization, coup d'état, and violent abolition of the Democratic State of Law.
Bolsonaro attempted to break his electronic ankle bracelet to escape, according to the Supreme Court
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was detained preemptively this Saturday, attempted to break the electronic ankle bracelet that monitored his movements to escape during a rally called in front of his house by one of his sons, according to the Supreme Court.
The far-right leader, sentenced to 27 years in prison for the coup attempt and who was already under house arrest since August, was arrested and taken to police authorities «to guarantee public order,» as justified by the Supreme Court in its decision.
According to the arrest warrant, authorities detected a «violation of the electronic monitoring equipment» worn by the former head of state at 00:08 local time (03:08 GMT) this Saturday.
«The information confirms the intention of the convicted to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure the success of his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the rally called by his son,» says the judge's order by Alexandre de Moraes, the case's rapporteur.
The magistrate recalls that other allies of the former head of state (2019-2022) convicted or prosecuted for coup practices have recently fled the country, including his son, deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, and former Intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem.
The latter left Brazil clandestinely through the state of Roraima, bordering Venezuela, and headed to the United States.
The preventive detention order responds to a request from the Federal Police after another of the former president's sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, called for a «vigil» in front of his father's house, who has been suffering from various health problems.
For De Moraes, that protest had the purpose of obstructing the supervision of the house arrest to which Bolsonaro had been subject since August 4 for violating a series of precautionary measures in the context of the coup attempt case.
In his opinion, «the so-called vigil» put «public order and the effectiveness of criminal law at risk».
«The turmoil caused by the illicit gathering of supporters of the convicted accused has a high probability of putting at risk the house arrest imposed and the effectiveness of the precautionary measures, facilitating a potential escape attempt by the accused,» he added.
On September 11, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison by the Supreme Court for «leading» a coup plot to «perpetuate himself in power,» after losing the 2022 elections to the current ruler, the progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
However, the preventive detention this Saturday is not the beginning of the sentence execution, which was expected in the coming weeks, after the Supreme Court rejected the first appeals against the verdict.
