Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told a judge Sunday that he tampered with his ankle monitor after suffering a nervous breakdown caused by a change in his medication. This marked his first full day in jail after being preemptively arrested at his home, as ordered by Brazil’s Supreme Court and federal police.
Authorities believed Bolsonaro was planning to leave the country days before he was supposed to start a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup to remain in the presidency after losing the 2022 election.
Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.
Point phone camera here
According to a Supreme Court document, Assistant Judge Luciana Sorrentino said Bolsonaro claimed to have “hallucinations that there was some wire tap in the ankle monitoring, so he tried to uncover it.” Sorrentino and the 70-year-old former president spoke via video conference on Sunday.
Bolsonaro told Sorrentino he couldn’t remember having “another breakdown of this magnitude,” and thought it might be because he changed his medication last week. Along with hallucinations, Bolsonaro also told the judge he wasn’t feeling well, and experienced “paranoia” that made him open the ankle monitoring device.
“(Bolsonaro) said he was with his daughter, his elder brother and an aide at his house and none of them saw what he was doing to the ankle monitoring,” the court document stated. “He said he started to touch it late at night and stopped around midnight.”
Bolsonaro accused of violating ankle monitor order
Bolsonaro reportedly violated the ankle monitoring around 12:08 a.m. Saturday and was arrested roughly six hours later. Brazil’s Supreme Court said a “vigil” scheduled for Saturday night outside of Bolsonaro’s residence could have been used as a distraction, allowing him to flee to the U.S. Embassy, which is about a 15-minute drive away from his residence.
Bolsonaro and U.S. President Donald Trump are allies. Asked about Bolsonaro’s arrest on Saturday, Trump said, “that’s too bad.”
Saturday’s demonstration was organized by Bolsonaro’s son, who urged his followers on social media to “come and fight with us.”
2024 arrest
Brazilian authorities arrested Bolsonaro in November 2024, alleging he knew about a plot to kill then-president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, while trying to overturn the country’s October 2022 election.
Following Bolsonaro’s loss to Lula, his supporters, also known as “Bolsonaristas,” rioted at government buildings.
According to officials, Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of a plan to prevent Lula from taking office. Those involved in planning the coup also wanted to assassinate Lula’s vice president and de Moraes, authorities said.
Bolsonaro and 36 other people were taken into custody. He was convicted in September by four of the five justices on Brazil’s Supreme Court on charges of: taking part in an armed criminal organization; attempting to violently abolish democracy; organizing a coup; and damaging government property and protected cultural assets.
