A video recorded by federal police showing Jair Bolsonaro’s burning electronic ankle bracelet is “printed and audio evidence” that the former president wanted the equipment removed, Minister of the Presidential Secretariat Guilherme Boles said on Monday. The statement, made in an interview with UOL, mocks the argument made by the former president’s supporters that votes in the election should be printed.
The pretrial detention order was issued with conclusive evidence. Some initially wondered, before the Federal Supreme Court published the video of the welded ankle bracelet, whether this procedure was appropriate or not. After this video there is no doubt. “We have printed verifiable proof of what sent Bolsonaro to prison, which was a ridiculous attempt to violate a court order and remove the electronic ankle bracelet,” Guilherme Boles said.
The Minister also commented on Bolsonaro’s conviction for the attempted coup, and stated that the trial in the Supreme Federal Court (STF) would set an example for future generations.
Bolsonaro was arrested on charges of attempted coup. This has historical political significance for Brazil, because it is the first time that someone who tried to carry out a coup, who tried to establish a dictatorship, has paid the price for his crimes. We did not have this again in the ’64 coup. There was no coup plotter or executioner, no persecuted people were arrested, and no one paid for their crimes. Now, in this coup plot trial, Bolsonaro and the generals have been arrested for it. This is a sign for the future that Brazil will not recognize anything that attacks our democracy, that Brazil will not recognize a coup, and this strengthens Brazilian democracy, in fact, it has been recognized this way all over the world.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro was arrested on Saturday on the orders of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF. The decision was made because the judge considered that there was a risk of flight and there were no longer conditions for maintaining house arrest. Furthermore, Bolsonaro admitted that he used a soldering iron to attempt to open the electronic ankle bracelet he was using as a precaution as determined by the STF.
The arrest is preventive and has nothing to do with the implementation of the coup attempt conviction. In the coup plot case, the decision has not yet become final, meaning there is still a deadline for submitting appeals.
Moraes’ decision states that the electronic ankle bracelet used by Bolsonaro was violated shortly after midnight on Saturday. Moreover, the order refers to the vigil called this evening by Senator Flavio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) at the door of the residential complex where the former president lives.
Bolsonaro has been under house arrest since August, a measure related to the investigation into the role of his son Eduardo Bolsonaro in imposing justice through the formulation of sanctions imposed by the government of Donald Trump against the Brazilian economy and against the authorities of the Federal Supreme Court and the federal government. Eduardo was denounced by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PGR) and became a defendant in the STF.
A house arrest order was issued after failure to adhere to the precautionary measures specified by the court during that process, in addition to the Federal Police claiming that there was a risk of escape.