This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact The Epoch Times Reprints.
Former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro reacts during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Camboriu, Brazil, on July 7, 2024. Pedro H. Tesch/Getty Images
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was transferred to the Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia on July 18, where he was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor and placed under precautionary measures, in compliance with a ruling by the Federal Supreme Court.
Upon leaving the Federal Police offices, Bolsonaro told the media that the imposition of the monitor was a “supreme humiliation.”
On July 17, the Federal Supreme Court placed Bolsonaro under preventive detention and electronic surveillance. He is also banned from using social media and accessing foreign embassies.
“Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s [social media] posts demonstrate conduct that obstructs the criminal proceedings being processed in this Supreme Court, as well as requesting the head of state of a foreign nation to take measures aimed at unlawfully interfering in the regular course of the judicial process, in order to exert social pressure on Brazilian authorities, in a flagrant attack on national sovereignty,” the ruling states.
Bolsonaro, who served as president between 2019 and 2022, is standing trial for his role in an alleged coup attempt in January 2023. He has repeatedly denied the allegations and said he is the target of political persecution.
Federal police officers also executed two search and seizure warrants at the home of the former president and his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who was charged with “coercion in the course of the proceedings and obstruction of the investigation of a crime involving a criminal organization.”
Jair Bolsonaro said this is the fourth time his belongings have been searched and seized.
On July 9, President Donald Trump threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on Brazil starting Aug. 1 if the trial against the former Brazilian president is not stopped.
In a letter published July 17 on his Truth Social account, Trump said Bolsonaro has suffered “terrible treatment” at the “hands of an unjust system that has turned against him.”
Bolsonaro was charged on July 14 by the Attorney General’s Office, along with seven of his associates, with committing “acts contrary to the democratic rule of law” for the alleged coup attempt following Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s election victory in 2023.
The defendants are charged with the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d'état, aggravated damage, and damage to classified property, which together could carry a maximum sentence of up to 43 years in prison, according to a July 14 press release from the Attorney General’s Office.
“All the accusations are false. I have never attacked democracy or the Constitution. ... We are experiencing a true WITCH HUNT, a blatant persecution against me and the millions of Brazilians I represent and to whom I give voice,” Bolsonaro wrote in Portuguese in a July 14 post on X.
“All based on a false and inconsistency-filled accusation, obtained by the informant through pressure.”
Bolsonaro must provide the Federal Police with his home address, where he must remain under house arrest from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day, including holidays and weekends.
The Epoch Times contacted Jair Bolsonaro’s lawyer for comment.
More than 100 Brazilians accused of the alleged 2023 coup have been released on charges, fitted with electronic monitors, and barred from accessing social media. Another 800 remain in prison.
