Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was arrested on Saturday by police to prevent a possible “attempted escape,” according to Brazil’s Supreme Court, days before he was due to begin a prison sentence for leading a coup attempt.
Bolsonaro was arrested at his home in Brasília and taken into police custody. In a statement, Federal Police said it executed a preventive arrest warrant that had been requested by the police themselves and authorized by the Supreme Court, CNN affiliate CNN Brasil reported.
Sources told CNN Brasil that a vigil organized by Bolsonaro’s oldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, in front of the complex of residential buildings where the former president lives triggered the request for preventive detention.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers vowed to appeal the arrest and dismissed the claim that the former president was attempting to escape.
Brazil’s Supreme Court said Saturday it had received information about the “summoning of supporters” to the vigil, which indicated a “high possibility of an attempted escape,” adding that there was a violation of Bolsonaro’s electronic monitoring equipment in the early hours of the morning.
“The information confirms the convict’s intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet in order to ensure the success of his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration,” the court said.
“The information confirms the convict’s intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet in order to ensure the success of his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration,” the court said.
Flávio Bolsonaro described the vigil, initially planned for Saturday evening local time, as an opportunity to pray for his father following recent reports of ill health and “for the return of democracy in our country.”
“Are you going to fight for your country or just watch everything on your phone on your couch at home?” he asked his followers in a social media video.
Tampered ankle monitor
Later on Saturday, the Supreme Court released a video, which it says shows Bolsonaro admitting to tampering with his ankle monitor with a soldering iron.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro’s defense team to explain the ankle monitor tampering within 24 hours, according to an order released by the court on Saturday alongside the video.
In the video, a penal official examines the partially melted casing and questions Bolsonaro about it. “Did you use anything to burn this here?” asks Rita Gaio, deputy director of Brazil’s Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration.
“Hot iron,” Bolsonaro is heard replying. He said he used a soldering iron out of “curiosity,” and had not attempted to remove or damage the bracelet fastening the device to his ankle.
Bolsonaro’s attorney told Brazilian media that the issue of the former president’s ankle monitor is beside the point, arguing that Bolsonaro would not have been able to escape his home since he was under armed guard.
Source: CNN