Brazil's Bolsonaro arrested for allegedly planning escape before prison term
Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday, with a judge alleging that he was attempting to flee just days before he was set to begin a 27-year prison sentence for his role in leading a coup attempt.
The 70-year-old politician was taken to the headquarters of the country's federal police in the capital, Brasilia, from his house arrest, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case, said in his ruling that Bolsonaro's ankle monitor, which he has worn since July 18 for being deemed a flight risk, was violated at 0:08 a.m of Saturday.
"That information shows the intent of the convict to break the ankle monitoring to assure his escape is successful, which would be made easier by the confusion that would be caused by a demonstration organized by his son," the justice said.
He said there was a chance of Bolsonaro fleeing to embassies in his neighborhood to request political asylum. The Supreme Court justice also mentioned other defendants in the coup case and political allies of the former president leaving Brazil to avoid jail.
The Supreme Court panel hearing Bolsonaro's case will vote on De Moraes' order in an extraordinary session Monday.
De Moraes said Bolsonaro's arrest "should be made with all respect to the dignity of former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, without the use of handcuffs and without any media exposition."
Bolsonaro's aide Andriely Cirino confirmed to The Associated Press that the arrest took place around 6 a.m. on Saturday, only hours after de Moraes made the unexpected decision.
The former president was taken from his house in a gated community in the upscale Jardim Botanico neighborhood to the federal police headquarters, Cirino said.
De Moraes mentioned in his ruling a video published this week by Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, one of the former president's sons, in which he egged on supporters to take to the streets in his father's defense.
"The video shot by Flávio Bolsonaro stimulates the disrespect to the constitutional text, to the judicial decision and to (democratic) institutions, showing there's no limits for the criminal organization in its attempt to create chaos and conflict in this country, in a total disrespect to democracy," de Moraes wrote.
"Brazil's democracy has reached sufficient maturity to steer away and prosecute pathetic illegal initiatives to defend the criminal organization that is responsible for a coup d'etat attempt in Brazil," he added.
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