Brasilia, Nov 23 (EFE). - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was detained this Saturday, admitted to authorities that he used a welder to manipulate the electronic ankle monitor that tracked his movements, according to a video released by the Supreme Court.
The former leader, sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup, was under house arrest at his home in Brasilia when he was arrested by Federal Police agents for "a concrete risk of flight" and "threat to public order".
The order was issued by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the presiding judge in the sedition case, who based his decision in part on receiving a notification that the electronic ankle monitor imposed on Bolsonaro had been tampered with.
"The information confirms the convicted's intention to break the electronic ankle monitor to ensure the success of his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son" for this Saturday in front of his house, the magistrate asserted.
A video recorded by an agent and released by the Supreme Court shows the device attached to the ankle of the far-right leader with visible burn marks "all the way around its circumference".
The footage also features a brief dialogue between the uniformed officer and the former head of state (2019-2022) in which the latter confesses that he started to manipulate the ankle monitor "in the late afternoon" on Friday with a "welder".
According to the expert report, the bracelet that was attached to the former governor's ankle with the device "did not present structural damage," although "it had to be replaced" with another one.
Protesters celebrate the arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro this Saturday in Brasilia (Brazil).
Moraes gave Bolsonaro's defense a 24-hour deadline to explain his client's behavior, which some of his allies have attributed to an "episode" due to health problems he has been suffering from, associated with anxiety crises, hiccups, and vomiting episodes.
The retired Army captain was arrested this Saturday at his residence in Brasilia, where since last August 4 he had been serving house arrest for violating several precautionary measures imposed in the sedition case.
A team of agents took the former governor to the headquarters of the Federal Police Superintendency in Brasilia, where he will remain in custody until further notice.
His arrest came on the eve of the Supreme Court ordering the execution of the 27-year prison sentence he received for "leading" a coup plot to "perpetuate himself in power" after losing the 2022 elections to the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
