Brazilian police arrested former President Jair Bolsonaro on a preventive warrant tied to what the Supreme Court described as a possible attempt to flee as he awaited the start of a prison sentence for leading a coup plot.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on X in response to Bolsonaro's arrest, saying, "The US is gravely concerned by his latest attack on the rule of law and political stability in Brazil: the provocative and unnecessary incarceration of former President Bolsonaro, who was already under house arrest under heavy guard and extreme limitations on communication."
Landau noted that Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest. "There is nothing more dangerous to democracy than a judge who knows no limits on his power," he wrote.
Police detained Bolsonaro at his home in Brasília after the court approved the request.
The move followed signs that supporters were being summoned to a vigil outside his residence and that his electronic monitoring equipment showed irregularities.
The court said there was a high possibility of an escape attempt and cited evidence that Bolsonaro's ankle monitor had been tampered with during the early morning hours.
A video released by the court later showed him acknowledging that he used a soldering iron on the casing, although he said it was out of curiosity and not an attempt to remove the device.
His lawyers dismissed the escape concerns and insisted that he was under constant surveillance by armed officers, which they said made any attempt to flee impossible.
They argued that his health remains fragile and warned that jail could put his life at risk.
Bolsonaro was sentenced earlier this year to 27 years in prison after a panel of Supreme Court justices convicted him on charges that included plotting to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The court also found him guilty of taking part in an armed criminal group, attempting to dismantle democratic order by force, committing violent acts against state institutions, and damaging protected public property during the storming of government buildings by his supporters in January 2023.
Bolsonaro has long claimed that the case is politically driven. Several military officials and a federal police officer were sentenced this month in related rulings tied to the coup plot.
President Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally, told reporters he had not heard about the arrest and called it "too bad."
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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