By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, was taken into custody on Saturday after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that he attempted to sabotage his electronic ankle bracelet in a bid to escape house arrest.
Bolsonaro, who is appealing a 27-year sentence for leading a failed plot to stop President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office in 2022, had been confined to an upscale condominium in Brasília. Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered his arrest, describing the 70-year-old as a “high flight risk”.
According to court filings, Bolsonaro used a soldering iron on the ankle monitor, leaving it burned and badly damaged. In a video submitted as evidence, he claimed he acted out of “curiosity,” though Moraes said the timing suggested a coordinated plan to flee, potentially aided by unrest at a vigil planned outside his residence by his son, Flavio Bolsonaro.
Flavio had urged supporters to “fight for your country,” prompting the judge to warn that the gathering could create chaos favourable to an escape attempt, particularly given Bolsonaro’s residence sits close to the U.S. embassy.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers have 24 hours to provide an explanation.
Outraged, Flavio said in a livestream: “If something happens to my father, Alexandre de Moraes, if my father dies in there, it’s your fault,” adding that his father may have damaged the device out of shame or desperation.
Bolsonaro has been moved to a federal police complex in Brasília for medical checks before being placed in a holding cell. A video shared with AFP shows a small room equipped with a TV, air conditioning and a mini-fridge.
Outside the facility, reactions were split. Critics celebrated with sparkling wine, calling the detention overdue; supporters draped in Brazil’s green-and-yellow flag insisted he was a victim of political persecution.
Bolsonaro’s spiralling legal troubles have left Brazil’s conservative base without a clear figurehead ahead of the 2026 presidential election. His lawyers say his detention could worsen ongoing abdominal complications from a 2018 stabbing.
The former leader, praised by allies for his economic record but widely criticised for Amazon deforestation and his dismissal of Covid-19 as a “little flu,” was convicted in September for leading a criminal organisation bent on maintaining his grip on power. Prosecutors say the plot even included plans to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Justice de Moraes.
Bolsonaro’s longtime ally, former U.S. president Donald Trump, reacted briefly to his latest arrest: “That’s too bad”.
