Overview

• Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes directed round-the-clock, discreet surveillance outside Jair Bolsonaro’s Brasília home, calling him a flight risk as he remains under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor.
• The order came after the prosecutor general sought real-time monitoring, referencing a federal police report that flagged possible interference with the case.
• Police say Bolsonaro’s seized phone contained a February 2024 draft request for political asylum to Argentina’s president and evidence of communications with co-defendants and mass sharing of support videos; his defense rejects that this proves intent to flee.
• Final arguments are scheduled for early September, with a ruling expected soon after in the Supreme Court case accusing Bolsonaro of plotting to overturn the 2022 election, carrying potential sentences of up to about 40 years.
• International tensions have intensified as President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods and sanctioned Justice de Moraes, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized reported U.S. visa revocations for Brazilian officials that Washington has not confirmed.