Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was detained in Brasilia because of a possible « attempted escape » to an embassy before he was to begin his prison sentence.
Nov. 22 Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was detained early Saturday in Brasilia because of a possible « attempted escape » to an embassy days before he was to begin his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt.
Brazil’s Supreme Court issued a preventive arrest warrant that had been sought by police for Bolonaro, 70, who had been under house arrest with an ankle monitor since early August.
Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday, the BBC reported.
He is scheduled to begin serving his sentence as the court reviews his appeals.
There was the possibility of « relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation », the court said.
In August, police obtained a document during a raid that Bolsonaro had planned to seek asylum in Argentina last year. And days after the operation, he spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil in an apparent bid for asylum.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers planned to appeal the arrest, denying that Bolsonaro was attempting to flee.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who wrote the order, said « new facts » had come to light about the far-right former president.
His intention was « to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape » that would be « facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son » outside his apartment complex.
