Police placed conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest on Monday night by order of Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes for allegedly breaking the restrictions imposed on him after Bolsonaro’s sons published footage of him on social media.
Police seized the former president’s mobile phones and barred him from using any other phone device, including that of his wife Michelle Bolsonaro or any third party. De Moraes also banned Bolsonaro from receiving any visitors at his residence in Brasília except for family members and lawyers. Visitors cannot record or take a photo of Bolsonaro during the visit. Failure to comply, de Moraes ruled, would result in Bolsonaro’s imprisonment.
De Moraes issued the house arrest order one day after followers of the former president gathered across 62 Brazilian cities on Sunday to peacefully protest against de Moraes and radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The demonstrators also expressed their gratitude to President Donald Trump for the human rights sanctions imposed against de Moraes in response to his continued persecution and censorship of conservative voices in Brazil.
According to Brazilian outlets, de Moraes justified the house arrest on the grounds that Bolsonaro allegedly used social media platforms in coordination with his sons and supporters to disseminate “clear content encouraging and inciting attacks on the Federal Supreme Court and ostensibly supporting foreign intervention in the Brazilian judiciary.”
In July, de Moraes imposed a strict curfew on the former president and mandated he wear an ankle monitor. De Moraes also banned Bolsonaro from using social media and imposed a long list of restrictions on his civil rights as part of a series of “precautionary measures.” Bolsonaro faces dubious charges of allegedly plotting to stage a “coup” and overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election, in which Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro.
“There is no doubt that there was a breach of the precautionary measure imposed on Jair Messias Bolsonaro, as the defendant produced material for publication on the social media accounts of his three children and all his followers and political supporters,” de Moraes’ ruling reportedly read.
Bolsonaro did not participate in Sunday’s nationwide events, as the curfew imposed by de Moraes forbade him from leaving his residence on weekends. Instead, the former president followed the event from his home through his phone.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro’s oldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, reportedly published a now-deleted short video of his father on his personal Instagram account. According to the Brazilian outlet G1, Flávio briefly put Jair Bolsonaro on speakerphone to speak to the crowd gathered in Rio de Janeiro. Moments later, the Brazilian senator posted a video on Instagram showing the other side of the call in which former President Bolsonaro allegedly said to his followers, “Good afternoon, Copacabana. Good afternoon, my Brazil. A hug to everyone. It’s for our freedom. We are together.”
G1 detailed that de Moraes substantiated the house arrest orders by citing Flávio Bolsonaro’s Instagram post as well as other social media posts and videos published by Bolsonaro’s other sons on Sunday. The judge also mentioned a video call between Jair Bolsonaro and Brazilian lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira while Ferreira was at the rally organized in São Paulo.
“Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s covert involvement in preparing pre-fabricated material for dissemination at demonstrations and on social media clearly demonstrated that he continued his unlawful conduct,” de Moraes wrote, “of attempting to coerce the Federal Supreme Court and obstruct justice, in flagrant disregard of the precautionary measures previously imposed.”
“The political supporters of Jair Messias Bolsonaro and his sons deliberately used the defendant’s statements and participation — albeit by telephone and social media — to spread attacks and incite protesters with the clear intention of pressuring and coercing this Supreme Court,” the text continued.
Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, another of Bolsonaro’s sons who requested political asylum in the United States, released a brief statement in Portuguese in which he stated that his father was arrested for supporting the protests against de Moraes and because “my brothers and I posted photos of him.”
“An arrest without a crime, without evidence, without trial. Just an abuse of power to silence the leader of the Brazilian opposition. Brazil is no longer a democracy. The world needs to take note,” Eduardo Bolsonaro said.
The outlet Metrópoles reported that a group of Bolsonaro supporters gathered at a TV tower in front of his residence in Brasília to peacefully protest against de Moraes’ latest judicial ruling. Another group of supporters took the streets of Brasília on Monday night to lead a motorcade against the STF Justice.
Bolsonaro’s legal team shared a brief statement with local media refuting de Moraes’ accusations and rejecting the justice’s claims that Bolsonaro violated the social media ban, stressing that speaking at a demonstration is not a criminal act.
“The phrase ‘Good afternoon, Copacabana. Good afternoon, Brazil. A hug to everyone. It’s for our freedom. We are together’ cannot be understood as a violation of a precautionary measure, nor as a criminal act,” Bolsonaro’s legal team said, and added that they will file an appeal against the house arrest ruling.
The U.S. State Department condemned Bolsonaro’s arrest in a brief statement published in both English and Portuguese, stressing that the U.S. will hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct.
“Justice Moraes, now a U.S.-sanctioned human rights abuser, continues to use Brazil’s institutions to silence opposition and threaten democracy. Putting even more restrictions on Jair Bolsonaro’s ability to defend himself in public is not a public service. Let Bolsonaro speak!” the statement read.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
