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Brazil Detains Bolsonaro in Preventive Custody After Ankle Monitor Tampering

The Supreme Court cited heightened flight risk and threats to public order as the ex-president continues to challenge a not-yet-final 27‑year sentence.

Overview

  • Federal police took Jair Bolsonaro into custody in Brasília on orders from Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a move the court emphasized is preventive and not the execution of his September sentence.
  • A court-released video shows Bolsonaro admitting he applied a hot tool to his electronic ankle monitor, which displayed burn marks after a post‑midnight alert from the device.
  • De Moraes pointed to a vigil urged by Bolsonaro’s son outside the residence and the nearby foreign embassies as factors that could facilitate an escape or an asylum bid.
  • Bolsonaro’s lawyers sought to serve any custody at home on health grounds, and the Supreme Court rejected his request to remain under house arrest following the detention.
  • The former president is being held at a federal police facility, and the Supreme Court is expected to weigh related filings and the status of his appeals in the coming days.