Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, detained after allegedly using a soldering iron on his court-ordered ankle monitor, argued Sunday that a state of “paranoia” had led him to tamper with the device.
The 70-year-old was taken to prison on Saturday from his home, where he had been under house arrest while appealing a coup-plotting conviction, after the Supreme Court deemed him a high flight risk.
The court sentenced Bolsonaro in September to 27 years in prison over a scheme to stop leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections.
The far-right firebrand has denied any wrongdoing and though he has already lost one appeal, he has until Monday for another challenge of his conviction.
During a hearing on Sunday in Brasilia, Bolsonaro stated he “experienced a certain paranoia between Friday and Saturday due to medication,” according to a Supreme Court document obtained by AFP.
He also asserted “that he had no intention of fleeing and that there was no breakage of the bracelet’s strap.”
The former army captain further said he spent a good part of Friday afternoon trying to open the bracelet until he “came to his senses” around midnight and stopped.
In a video made public by the court on Saturday, Bolsonaro admitted that he had used a soldering iron on the monitoring bracelet out of “curiosity.”
The video showed the device badly damaged and burned, but still on his ankle.
– ‘Sovereign country’ –
In its ruling on Saturday that sent Bolsonaro into custody, the Supreme Court noted that the US embassy is located near his residence.
The former leader is a close ally of US President Donald Trump, who has denounced the trial as a “witch hunt” and sanctioned a supreme court judge and his family.
Trump had also imposed punitive tariffs on Brazil over the case, but has since largely walked them back.
On Sunday, Lula was asked about the possibility that the new arrest of Bolsonaro could affect relations with Washington.
“It has nothing to do with it,” Lula said during a press conference at the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
“I think Trump needs to know that we are a sovereign country, that our justice system decides, and what is decided here is decided,” he said.
Bolsonaro was convicted in September of leading a criminal organization that conspired to ensure his “authoritarian hold on power.”
The plot allegedly involved a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Bolsonaro’s legal woes have left Brazil’s large conservative electorate without a champion heading into 2026 presidential elections, in which Lula, 80, has said he will seek a fourth term.
The Bolsonaro defense team said they would appeal his detention which “could put his life at risk” due to his frail health.
He suffers from recurring abdominal issues after being stabbed during the 2018 campaign, which has required several follow-up surgeries.
