Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro detained after damaging ankle monitor as court cites flight risk

Brazil’s federal police detained former President Jair Bolsonaro, citing a flight risk after authorities found he had damaged his court-ordered ankle monitor, abruptly ending his house arrest that had been in place since August 4, 2025. Bolsonaro had been confined to his home after courts found he violated judicial restrictions in a separate case in which he was accused of trying to lobby foreign governments, including the United States, to interfere in Brazil’s legal system and halt criminal proceedings against him. He was taken into custody and moved to a small holding cell at federal police headquarters in Brasilia following an order by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The arrest order said officers received an alert shortly after midnight about a possible breach of Bolsonaro’s electronic monitor. When police inspected the device at his residence, they found clear and significant damage, including burn marks. In a video released with court authorization, Bolsonaro admitted he used a soldering iron to burn the casing of the monitor and later claimed he did so out of “curiosity.” Police replaced the monitoring device, and Moraes ordered his preventive detention soon afterward, giving Bolsonaro’s defense team 24 hours to explain the violation to the Supreme Court.

Moraes said the detention was also necessary because a planned vigil by Bolsonaro’s supporters outside his home could have undermined police monitoring and created a real opportunity for escape. The judge cited evidence that Bolsonaro had previously considered seeking asylum inside the Argentine embassy in Brasilia and pointed to the fact that close allies, including his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, had left Brazil to avoid court proceedings. A panel of Supreme Court justices is expected to review the detention order on Monday. Bolsonaro is being held in a 12-square-meter cell equipped with a single bed, a television, air conditioning, and a private bathroom, according to federal police.

Bolsonaro’s lawyers said the detention caused “deep perplexity” and argued that the planned prayer vigil was protected by Brazil’s constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. They said they would appeal the detention order. Most senior government officials avoided public comment, but Institutional Relations Minister Gleisi Hoffmann said the detention followed due process and was based on the real risk of escape by what she described as the leader of a coup organization.

In a separate and still ongoing case, Bolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He was identified by the courts as the leader and main beneficiary of a scheme to prevent Lula from taking office in 2023. However, he has not yet been sent to prison in that case because his appeals have not been exhausted and no final arrest warrant has been issued.

Bolsonaro had already spent more than 100 days under house arrest for allegedly violating court orders tied to accusations that he sought U.S. interference in Brazil’s judicial process. During that period, he was barred from using social media but continued to receive visits from political allies. His son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, posted a video calling on supporters to gather outside the family home, telling them to “come fight with us.” Dozens of supporters later gathered near the gated community, singing evangelical hymns while Flavio Bolsonaro stood beside a cardboard cutout of his father.

International reaction followed quickly. U.S. President Donald Trump said he was unaware of the detention and described it as “too bad,” adding that he had spoken with Lula the previous day and would meet him soon. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Washington was “gravely concerned” by what he called an attack on the rule of law in Brazil, warning that nothing was more dangerous to democracy than a judge without limits on his power.

Bolsonaro’s defense team said that if his appeals fail, he should be allowed to serve any eventual prison sentence under house arrest because of ongoing health problems linked to a 2018 stabbing that led to multiple surgeries and hospitalizations.Moraes rejected a separate request from the defense for humanitarian house arrest following the latest detention.