The former president of , who was remanded in custody today on suspicion of absconding, admitted that he tried to open the electronic wristband he has been required to wear since August using a welding tool.
He claimed he did it out of “curiosity” in a video released by Brazil’s Supreme Court.
The video shows the electronic bracelet on Bolsonaro’s leg damaged and burned. Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been under house arrest for months, was remanded in custody on Saturday after a judge accused him of trying to break his electronic bracelet in an attempt to escape.
Watch the video:
URGENT: STF releases images of the electronic ankle bracelet used by Jair Bolsonaro with clear signs of attempted break-up. In the images, a director from the DF Penitentiary Administration Secretariat inspects the equipment.
— Renato Souza (@reporterenato)
Far-right Bolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years in prison for a coup attempt aimed at preventing the return to power of his leftist rival Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, whom he had defeated in the October 2022 presidential election.
The 70-year-old was taken today to the headquarters of the Federal Police in Brasilia. Explaining his decision, the powerful judge Alexandre de Moraes clarified that it was a temporary detention and not the execution of a sentence.
According to the judge, Bolsonaro tried to break his electronic bracelet in the hope of escaping during a demonstration planned for the evening by his supporters near his residence in the country’s capital. The judge speaks of a “high risk of flight”.
