Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday, days before he was to begin his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt. The embattled leader was taken to the headquarters of the country's Federal Police in the capital, Brasilia, from his house arrest, per the AP. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case, said in his ruling that the arrest "should be made with all respect to the dignity of [Bolsonaro], without the use of handcuffs and without any media exposition." Bolsonaro aide Andriely Cirino confirmed the arrest took place around 6am on Saturday, only hours after de Moraes made the unexpected decision.
The 70-year-old former president was taken from his house in a gated community in the Jardim Botanico neighborhood to federal police headquarters, Cirino said. De Moraes mentioned in his ruling a video published this week by Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, one of the far-right leader's sons, in which he egged on supporters to take to the streets in his father's defense. "The video ... stimulates the disrespect to the constitutional text, to the judicial decision, and to [democratic] institutions," the Supreme Court justice wrote.
Some Bolsonaro supporters, who claim he's being politically persecuted, are expected to rally outside police headquarters over the weekend. Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest in August, weeks before he was convicted in his coup trial. His lawyers pleaded with Brazil's Supreme Court to keep him home for his sentence, citing his poor health. Bolsonaro, Brazil's president from 2019 to 2023, is set to begin serving his sentence next week after he exhausted all appeals of his conviction for leading a coup attempt. Saturday's preemptive arrest doesn't mean Bolsonaro will remain at police headquarters to serve his sentence. Brazilian law requires that all convicts start their sentences in prison.
The former president and several allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil's democracy following his 2022 election loss to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors said the coup plot included plans to kill Lula and to encourage an insurrection in early 2023. Bolsonaro, an ally to US President Trump, remains a key figure in Brazilian politics, despite being ineligible to run again until at least 2030. Polls show he would be a strong candidate in next year's vote if allowed to run.
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