Jair Bolsonaro says ankle monitor damage caused by paranoia

Jair Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president convicted of plotting a coup, has blamed medicine-induced “paranoia” for damage he caused to his ankle monitor – a day after he was removed from house arrest into detention.

At a hearing in Brasília, he admitted trying to open the monitor with a soldering iron on Friday until he “came to his senses”, court documents show. He said he had had no intention of fleeing.

Officials say the right-wing politician, 70, was taken into custody because he was a flight risk ahead of a supporters’ vigil outside his home. He will remain in detention.

In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for the coup plot.

Bolsonaro is being held in a police station in the capital.

His legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had known of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Moraes, who has been overseeing Bolsonaro’s trial.

The conspiracy failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília. The security forces intervened and about 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the military to step in and return him to power.

Bolsonaro was also barred from running for public office until 2060 – eight years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a “witch hunt” designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.