By Ricardo Brito and Luciana Magalhaes
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was taken into custody on Saturday after a Supreme Court justice cited an escape risk linked to a planned supporters’ vigil, ending months of house arrest as he appeals a coup-plot conviction.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the detention, saying the gathering outside Bolsonaro’s home could undermine monitoring and noting evidence of tampering with his ankle monitor the night before, according to a decision seen by Reuters.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers confirmed the detention, citing the planned vigil as the main reason for Moraes’ decision and noting they plan to file an “appropriate appeal”. A federal police representative said Bolsonaro underwent custody intake examinations in Brasilia early on Saturday.
JUDGE CITES ESCAPE RISK
“The tumult caused by an illegal gathering of the convict’s supporters has a strong chance of putting at risk the house arrest and other precautionary measures, allowing for his eventual escape,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes in his decision ordering the detention on Saturday.
The judge cited evidence that Bolsonaro had previously considered seeking asylum in the Argentine embassy in Brasilia. One of his sons, federal lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, and other close allies have fled Brazil to avoid the reach of the country’s courts, Moraes noted in his decision.
The decision was supported by the Prosecutor General’s Office, according to a document seen by Reuters.
In a statement, Bolsonaro’s lawyers said his detention caused “deep perplexity”, noting that what would be a “prayer vigil” was guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution under the right to religious freedom.
“Despite claiming the ‘existence of very serious evidence of a possible escape,’ the fact is that the former president was arrested at his home, with an electronic ankle monitor and under police surveillance,” they added.
On Monday, Moraes’ decision will be submitted to a Supreme Court panel for confirmation.
The right-wing former leader was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro was identified as the leader and main beneficiary of a scheme to prevent Lula from taking office in 2023. However, the courts have not yet issued a final arrest order in that case, as Bolsonaro has not exhausted the appeals process.
For more than 100 days, Bolsonaro has been under house arrest for violating precautionary measures in a separate case over allegedly courting U.S. interference to halt the criminal case against him.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who was friendly with Bolsonaro when they were both in office, has called the case a “witch hunt”. He imposed sanctions on Moraes, the justice overseeing it, and a 50% tariff on U.S. imports of several Brazilian goods, which he began to roll back this month.
“Bolsonaro’s preventive detention strictly follows the rules of due process,” Institutional Relations Minister Gleisi Hoffmann, the highest cabinet official to speak on the issue, said on X. “Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ decision is based on the real risk of escape by the leader of the coup organization.”
‘COME FIGHT WITH US’, SAYS BOLSONARO’S SON
While under house arrest, Bolsonaro was barred from using social media, but received visits from political allies.
His son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, put out a call on social media for supporters to gather outside his father’s condominium in Brasilia on Saturday evening.
“I invite you to come fight with us,” the senator said in a video posted online. “With your strength, the strength of the people, we’ll fight back and rescue Brazil.”
Following the detention, Bolsonaro was taken to a federal police site, where he’s staying in a 12-square-meter room with a single bed, television, air conditioning and a private bathroom, according to a description and a video released by the police.
“Don’t feel discouraged. Our opponent wants us to be desperate. He intends to wait for us to react with discouragement. It’s not over yet,” Eduardo Bolsonaro said in a video posted on social media.
If Bolsonaro’s appeals are unsuccessful, his defense would seek permission for him to serve his nearly three-decade sentence under house arrest, citing several health issues.
Just a few hours after the detention, Moraes issued a separate decision dismissing the defense’s request on Friday that Bolsonaro serve his sentence under “humanitarian house arrest.”
The former president, who was stabbed in the abdomen during a 2018 campaign event, has a history of hospitalizations and surgeries related to the attack.
Bolsonaro had previously been banned from running for office until 2030 after Brazil’s electoral court found him guilty of abusing his office during his 2022 re-election campaign.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia and Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paulo. Additional reporting by Isabel Teles and Fernando Cardoso. Editing by Brad Haynes and Mark Potter)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.