In a video released by the court, Bolsonaro said he held a soldering iron to his ankle bracelet out of “curiosity.” The video showed the device, which was badly damaged and showed signs of burns, but was still on the ex-president’s ankle.
Bolsonaro tried to deactivate the ankle bracelet early Saturday morning, Moraes explained. In his decision to imprison the 70-year-old, the judge also referred to a demonstration announced by Bolsonaro’s son on Saturday in front of the ex-president’s house, which would have created “an environment favorable for his (Bolsonaro’s) escape.” Flavio Bolsonaro, the ex-president’s eldest son and senator, called on his father’s supporters to “fight for their country.”
“I don’t know what’s going on in the police department. Alexandre de Moraes, if my father dies there, it’s your fault,” Flavio Bolsonaro told reporters at the meeting. In his opinion, his father tried to destroy the ankle bracelet out of “desperation” or “shame.”
In his argument about the threat of flight, Judge Moraes also highlighted the proximity of Bolsonaro’s residence to the US Embassy. This increases the risk that the ex-president and close ally of US President Donald Trump could apply for political asylum there.
Trump said on Saturday that he spoke to Bolsonaro “last night” and would meet with him “in the near future.” The US President regretted Bolsonaro’s arrest, saying: “It’s a shame.”
The Supreme Court sentenced the ultra-right former head of state to more than 27 years in prison in September for a planned coup. A few days ago, the Supreme Court dismissed Bolsonaro’s appeal against the verdict.
Bolsonaro, who ruled Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was found guilty of leading a “criminal organization” that sought to overturn his 2022 election defeat against now left-leaning President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Supreme Court concluded that he had incited his followers to storm the Supreme Court, the Presidential Palace and the Congress in the capital Brasília on January 8, 2023. Hundreds of Bolsonaro’s supporters broke into the buildings and caused severe damage. The scenes of violence were reminiscent of the attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol in Washington two years earlier.
The former Brazilian head of state has been under house arrest since August. On Friday, his lawyers requested that he also serve his sentence in house arrest. They argued that imprisonment would endanger the 70-year-old’s health.
