Brazil's Supreme Court orders Bolsonaro's house arrest
The decision was motivated by the failure to comply with some of the precautionary restrictions that had been imposed on him due to the risk of flight.
BarcelonaBrazil's Supreme Court on Monday ordered the house arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro for violating some of the precautionary restrictions imposed on him due to the risk of flight and in the context of the attempted coup trial. Judge Alejandro de Moraes, the investigator in the case against the far-right leader, ordered Bolsonaro to be placed under house arrest, also prohibiting him from receiving visitors to his residence except for those of his family.
In his ruling, de Moraes also ordered the Federal Police to search the former head of state's residence to seize cell phones and other devices that allow him to connect to social media. According to the judge, Bolsonaro violated the precautionary measures imposed on him last month, which prohibited him from sending messages on social media, both personally and through third parties, and required him to wear an electronic anklet and remain at home at night and on weekends.
De Moraes cited, to justify his failure to comply with the precautionary measures, several messages sent by Bolsonaro's parliamentary allies and a live broadcast by his three children, which included "incitements to attack the Supreme Court and support for foreign intervention in power."
The messages were read at the marches held on Sunday by thousands of Bolsonaro supporters in various cities across the country, in which they defended the approval of an amnesty for all those accused of colpismo and expressed support for the coup. to the sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump on those responsible for the Bolsonaro trial. In addition to imposing an additional 50% tariff on some Brazilian products, the Trump administration revoked visas for eight of the eleven members of the Brazilian Supreme Court and ordered the freezing of Alejandro de Moraes' assets.
"There is no doubt that there has been a breach of the precautionary measure imposed on Jair Messias Bolsonaro," said the judge, who added that "more drastic measures are necessary to prevent the continued repetition of crimes by the defendant."
The house arrest was ordered in the context of the proceedings in which Bolsonaro is accused of leading a plot to prevent the inauguration of progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president in the 2022 presidential elections.
In response to the far-right wing, they assured that they will promote the dismissal of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The lawmakers told the media that they will present the initiative as part of a "peace package" to "pacify" the country.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president's son, denounced the measure against the former president as a "legal aberration" and attributed the judge's decision to a desire for "revenge." "The solution to Brazil's problems is here in Congress," he stated, revealing the uneasy relationship between the conservative-dominated lower house and the judiciary.