Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes over the weekend ordered the arrest of conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro after an incident involving Bolsonaro’s electronic ankle bracelet.
According to Bolsonaro’s medical team, Bolsonaro suffered an episode of hallucinations and mental confusion resulting from medications, which led to him using a soldering iron on the monitoring device.
De Moraes, sanctioned by the United States under the under the Global Magnitsky Act for his persecution of Bolsonaro and other conservatives, ordered police to arrest Bolsonaro at his residence in Brasília on Saturday, where he remained under a strict, near-draconian house arrest ordered by the Brazilian Justice in August. De Moraes justified the arrest citing alleged “elements that indicate a concrete risk of flight and a threat to public order;” it occurs days before the Brazilian top court is expected to issue a final ruling on where Bolsonaro will serve the 27-year prison sentence for “crimes against democracy.”
The Brazilian justice reportedly ordered the police carry out the arrest “without the use of handcuffs and without any media exposure.” At press time, Bolsonaro remains arrested at the Regional Superintendency of the Federal Police in Brasília.
According to the STF, Brazil’s Integrated Electronic Monitoring Center (Cime) reported a breach alert on Bolsonaro’s electronic anklet bracelet Saturday around midnight (local time). Officials arrived at Bolsonaro’s residence and found that the device had “burn marks around its entire circumference” and signs of an attempt to open the locking point.
“According to the document [Cime’s report], Bolsonaro claimed to have used a soldering iron to try to open the ankle bracelet. The bracelet was not damaged, but the device had to be replaced,” the STF said.
Local outlets reported that the Brazilian Prison Administration Secretariat’s regional deputy director Rita de Cássia spoke with Bolsonaro after he was taken into custody. In a video shared to outlets, Bolsonaro is heard explaining to the official that he used a soldering iron on the bracelet.
“I put a hot iron in there. Just out of curiosity,” Bolsonaro told de Cássia. “It was a soldering iron,” he detailed after she asked him what kind of hot iron he used.
Poder 360, citing the STF’s report, detailed that Bolsonaro told the police that he experienced “a certain paranoia” from Friday to Saturday after taking two medications prescribed by different doctors, reportedly identified as Pregabalin and Setraline.
The top court stated in the report that Bolsonaro started taking one of the two medications “about four days” before the incident that led to his arrest. Bolsonaro declared to the police that he took a soldering course and had soldering equipment in his home.
“The witness stated that he was ‘hallucinating’ that there was a listening device in the ankle bracelet, so he tried to open the cover,” the STF document reportedly read.
On Sunday, Dr. Claudio Birolini, who leads Bolsonaro’s medical team, explained to the police alongside Bolsonaro’s cardiologist Leandro Echenique that the Pregabalin was prescribed by another doctor with the aim of “optimizing treatment” but without the knowledge or consent of the team.
“This medication interacts significantly with the medications he regularly uses to treat hiccup attacks (Chlorpromazine and Gabapentin) and has recognized side effects, including altered mental state with the possibility of mental confusion, disorientation, abnormal coordination, sedation, balance disorders, hallucinations, and cognitive disorders,” the doctors reportedly wrote in their report.
Poder 360 shared a redacted copy of a Pregabalin prescription allegedly issued by Endocrinologist Maria Pasolini to former President Bolsonaro on November 17, with instructions in Portuguese that read, “Take one pill after breakfast.”
The incident, and Bolsonaro’s Saturday arrest, occurred hours after one of his sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, published a video on social media on Friday calling for supporters of the former president to gather outside his residence in Brasília for a Saturday prayer vigil.
Bolsonaro, 70, suffers from multiple health complications stemming from a 2018 failed assassination attempt as well as other pre-existing conditions such as hypertension. In September, he was diagnosed with skin cancer. His defense team, citing the former president’s multiple health conditions, has requested that he be allowed to serve his prison sentence under house arrest.
Radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during his participation on Sunday in the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, referred to the arrest of Jair Bolsonaro in remarks to reporters, claiming “everyone knows” what he did.
“I do not comment on Supreme Court decisions. The court made a decision, he was tried, he had every right to the presumption of innocence, and there were practically two and a half years of investigation, plea bargaining, and trial. In other words, the court has decided, it is decided, he will serve the sentence that the court has determined, and everyone knows what he did,” Lula said.
On Monday morning, a three-panel STF group led by de Moraes ruled to keep Bolsonaro under preventive prison. De Moraes justified keeping Bolsonaro detained under grounds that he violated his electronic ankle bracelet in a “deliberate and conscious” manner, describing him as a “repeat offender” of the restrictions imposed against him.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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