On his first full day in jail, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told a judge he had violated his ankle monitoring device the day before while under house arrest. The reason? A nervous breakdown and hallucinations he claimed were caused by a recent change in his medication.

 

 

 

The 70-year-old former leader was ordered into preemptive jailing on Saturday by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who deemed Bolsonaro a flight risk. This follows the former President’s sentencing in September to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup to remain in power after his 2022 electoral defeat.

 

 

 

Assistant Judge Luciana Sorrentino’s report, published in a Supreme Court document on Sunday, detailed Bolsonaro’s explanation.

 

The former President stated he had “hallucinations” suggesting that the ankle monitor contained a wire tap, which prompted him to try and uncover it. Bolsonaro further told the judge that he did not recall having a breakdown of this magnitude previously and speculated it might be linked to a medication change last week. He once again denied any intention to escape.

 

 

 

The court document also recorded Bolsonaro as saying he had not been sleeping well and was experiencing “a certain paranoia” that fueled his curiosity to open the monitoring device. Bolsonaro claimed that none of the family members or aides present at his house saw him tamper with the device, stating he began touching it late at night and stopped around midnight.

 

 

 

De Moraes received information that the far-right leader’s ankle monitor was violated at 12:08 a.m. on Saturday, leading to the arrest order hours

later.

 

 

The Supreme Court ruling in September confirmed that Bolsonaro tried to stage a coup and retain the presidency after his loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022. The same Supreme Court panel is scheduled to vote on the preemptive arrest order this Monday.

 

 

 

Bolsonaro’s meeting with the assistant judge on Sunday was procedural but also provided an opportunity for his lawyers to argue for his return to house arrest due to his poor health—a request Justice De Moraes has previously rejected.

 

 

 

President Lula commented on his predecessor’s jailing while at the G20 meeting in South Africa: “The court ruled, that’s decided. Everyone knows what he did.” Outside the federal police headquarters, a mix of pro-Bolsonaro protesters, demanding the removal of Lula and De Moraes, and detractors, celebrating the arrest, gathered.