BOGOTA, Colombia
Brazil's Supreme Court unanimously upheld the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday, following his attempt to remove his electronic ankle bracelet over the weekend using a soldering iron while under house arrest.
Bolsonaro, 70, was taken into custody early Saturday and is currently being held at the federal police headquarters in Brasília.
He had been under house arrest since August, awaiting the assignment of where he would serve his 27-year prison sentence for his role in a failed 2022 coup d'état—an attempt to remain in office after losing the presidential election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
A four-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously approved the continuation of the preemptive arrest.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who issued the initial arrest warrant Saturday, deemed Bolsonaro a flight risk and cited the breach of judicial restrictions.
In his decision, he noted that Bolsonaro confessed to breaking the ankle monitoring device, calling it "serious foul play, repeated non-compliance with precautionary measures and evident disrespect to the court."
Bolsonaro told an assistant judge on Sunday that a change in his medication for chronic hiccups caused him to have a nervous breakdown and hallucinations, which led him to try and break his ankle monitor.
The former president had previously been prohibited from using social media and receiving unauthorized visitors.
The Supreme Court's First Panel reviewed and unanimously rejected the final appeals from all defendants convicted in the coup plot case.
The sentence is now considered virtually final. The defense has very limited remaining legal options, primarily procedural motions that question omissions or ambiguities in the ruling rather than the verdict itself. These are expected to be quickly dismissed by Justice Moreas.
Once these last motions are formally rejected, the court will likely order Bolsonaro and the six others to begin serving their sentences.