SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the house arrest for the country's former President Jair Bolsonaro, on trial for allegedly masterminding a coup plot to remain in office despite his defeat in the 2022 election — a case that has gripped the South American country as it faces a trade war with the Trump administration.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees the case against Bolsonaro before the top court, said in his decision that the 70-year-old former president had violated precautionary measures imposed on him by posting content on the social media channels of his three lawmaker sons.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro addressed supporters in Rio de Janeiro through the phone of one of his sons, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro.
The trial of the far-right leader is receiving renewed attention after U.S. President Donald Trump directly tied a 50% tariff on imported Brazilian goods to the judicial situation of Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally. Trump has called the proceedings a “ witch hunt,” triggering nationalist reactions from leaders of all branches of power in Brazil, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Following news of the arrest order, a staffer with Brazil's federal police told The Associated Press that federal agents were currently at Bolsonaro's residence in the capital of Brasilia to seize cell phones, as ordered by de Moraes in his decision. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity due to their lack of authorization to speak about the matter publicly.
Bolsonaro is expected to remain in Brasilia for his house arrest as he is not allowed to travel. He also has a house in Rio de Janeiro, where he held his electoral base as a lawmaker for three decades.
Brazil's prosecutors accuse Bolsonaro of heading a criminal organization that plotted to overturn the election, including plans to kill Lula and Justice de Moraes after the far-right leader narrowly lost his reelection bid in 2022.
Monday’s order followed one from the top court last month that ordered Bolsonaro wear an electronic ankle monitor and imposed a curfew on his activities while the proceedings are underway.
De Moraes added in his ruling that Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, has spread messages with “a clear content of encouragement and instigation to attacks against the Supreme Court and a blatant support for foreign intervention in the Brazilian Judiciary.”
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on de Moraes over alleged suppression of freedom of expression and the ongoing trial of Bolsonaro.
The move from the Brazilian justice comes a day after tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took the streets in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, pleading for Brazil's congress to pardon him and hundreds of others who are under trial for their roles in the destruction of government buildings in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023.
De Moraes also said in his ruling that Bolsonaro "addressed protesters gathered in Copacabana, in Rio de Janeiro” on Sunday so his supporters could “try to coerce the Supreme Court.”
The latest decision from the top court keeps Boslonaro under ankle monitoring, allows only family members and lawyers to visit him and seizes all mobile phones from his home.
Mauricio Savarese, The Associated Press
