The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeo Zema (Novo), did not give up defending former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) after the politician admitted to trying to violate an electronic ankle bracelet with a soldering iron. According to him, Bolsonaro acted in an “extreme situation” and the truth “does not change anything” the governor’s previous statements that there would be political persecution in the case.
— Today, when a detainee wears an electronic ankle bracelet and breaks it, he or she needs an arrest warrant, which often takes months to issue. It seems to me that in this case it was much faster. So, this is another sign of political persecution – he declared upon his arrival at a Grupo Voto event in São Paulo.
Zema expressed his solidarity with Bolsonaro in the first hours after news of the arrest, but has not yet commented on the video of the detention session in which the former president admits to burning equipment in the early hours of the morning before he was detained. When asked about the reason for this behavior, he claimed that it would be an “extreme situation” in relation to the procedures he was going through in court.
-I think it’s a bit of an extreme position because of what he’s going through. But at no time, and we have to explain that, did he try to escape at any time, and we have to explain that. It even seems exaggerated to me. You are under house arrest with people monitoring your home and you still have to wear an electronic ankle monitor.
The governor of Minas Gerais on Monday reiterated the diagnosis that the 2026 elections should have several right-wing governors competing for the presidency, and said he supports approving pardons for those convicted of the coup in Congress.
Dozens of political leaders take part in the end-of-year dinner promoted by Grupo Voto, which brings together business and public sector representatives, on Monday evening (24), in São Paulo.
The event takes place at the upscale Palácio Tangará hotel in the capital, São Paulo. Guests include the President of the Chamber, Hugo Mota (Republicans-PB), and Governors Romeo Zema (Novo), from Minas Gerais, Eduardo Leite (PSD), from Rio Grande do Sul, and Claudio Castro (PL), from Rio de Janeiro.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro was detained in pretrial detention on Saturday, on the order of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF). In the application sent to the court, the Federal Police (PF) stated that there was a risk of flight in the face of a “vigil” called by one of his sons, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), which could cause disturbances around the politician’s residence, a hypothesis supported by the attempted violation of the electronic ankle bracelet during the early hours of the morning.
Bolsonaro used a soldering iron to try to remove the cover of the equipment, he admitted during the custody hearing. PF released photos of the damaged object. The former president initially claimed he did so out of “curiosity” and then confusion over the use of the drug. He said he was suffering from “a kind of paranoia” and “hallucinating” about the possibility of illegal wiretapping on his ankle bracelet.
The first committee of the STF unanimously supported Moraes’ decision on Monday. The voting rapporteur explained that “there is no doubt about the necessity of converting house arrest to pretrial detention, due to the necessity of ensuring public order, ensuring the application of the criminal law, and not paying attention to the previously applied precautionary measures.” He was accompanied by Carmen Lucia, Flavio Dino and Cristiano Zanin – Luiz Fuchs, who voted to acquit Bolsonaro in the coup plot, asked to leave the board in October.