Federal police on Saturday arrested Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to jail earlier this year over a botched coup attempt, his lawyer confirmed. The arrest comes a week after a court rejected Bolsonaro’s appeal of his 27-year prison term.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was arrested on Saturday by federal police, his lawyer said, ending months of house arrest as he appealed a conviction for attacks on Brazil’s democracy
Bolsonaro’s attorney did not give a reason for the detention. A person familiar with the matter said it was a preventative measure related to the terms of his house arrest.
The 70-year-old former leader was convicted in September for leading a botched coup bid in which he attempted to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after his 2022 election loss.
An appeal of his sentence was rejected last week, bringing him one step closer to prison.
For more than 100 days, Bolsonaro has been under strict house arrest for violating precautionary measures in a separate case over allegedly courting US interference to halt the criminal case against him.
US 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 Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, and a 50 percent tariff on US imports of several Brazilian goods, which he began to roll back this month.
While under house arrest, Bolsonaro was barred from using social media, but received visits from political allies. His lawyers requested on Friday that he be allowed to serve his 27-year prison sentence at home, arguing that he is too sick to go to jail.
The former president, who was stabbed in the abdomen during a 2018 campaign event, has a history of hospitalisations 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.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)