Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: Presidential Palace, Brazil

Far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested and is currently being held in a heavily guarded state room with a private bathroom inside the Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia – an alternative to a common prison cell which is a privilege typically guaranteed to former heads of state.

The arrest order was requested by the Federal Police and issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The 17-page document can be read, in Portuguese, here.

According to the arrest order, the former President violated the conditions of his house arrest by attempting to remove his electronic ankle monitor shortly after midnight on November 22.

Earlier that day, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, himself under investigation for payroll skimming, used Christian nationalist language in a call for a vigil in front of his father’s mansion on his social media accounts.

According to the Federal Police, with Bolsonaro’s mansion in Solar de Brasilia condominium complex located approximately 15 minutes by car from the Argentinian embassy, this protest created an environment conducive to his escape.

“Although the call for protesters is disguised as a ‘vigil’ for the health of the defendant,” Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes wrote in the arrest order, “Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s conduct indicates a repetition of the modus operandi of the criminal organization led by the said defendant, in the sense of using criminal popular movements to obtain personal advantages. In this case, the potential holding of the alleged ‘vigil’ presents a very high risk to the effectiveness of house arrest and endangers public order and the effectiveness of criminal law.”

Bolsonaro was put under house arrest on July 22, 2025, during final deliberations in the trial for plotting a military coup which resulted in a guilty verdict and 27-year prison sentence on September 11, after the federal police judged he was a flight risk. At the time, his former ally Carla Zambelli had already fled to Italy and his son, Eduardo, who is now wanted for treason for lobbying with the Trump administration to impose tariffs on Brazil to pressure for his father’s release, had fled to Texas. Earlier this year, Bolsonaro had spent two nights in the Hungarian embassy unannounced. In December, 2023, he renounced the presidency 3 days before the end of his term and fled to Orlando, Florida, in an apparent attempt to create plausibility for the Jan. 8 capitol uprising which he was later convicted for planning. Shortly after his house arrest, he violated the terms of his imprisonment by allowing family members and allies to post videos and audio messages on their social media accounts. After being convicted along with Bolsonaro, former Intelligence Chief, Alexandre Ramagem, fled to the United States in September and is currently fighting an extradition order.

Bolsonaro’s preemptive arrest is expected to come to a close next week, as the final deadline for appeals is set for Tuesday, November 26. The legal wiggle room for appeals is tight and depends on the introduction of new evidence or proof of mathematical error in the sentencing. The first appeals presented by his lawyers were immediately rejected by the Supreme Court and there is no reason to believe any last minute appeal will be accepted. Therefore, the former President is expected to begin serving his 27-year sentence sometime later next week. His political allies have been pressuring for him to serve his sentence under house arrest, citing his advanced age and alleged health issues which have not been verified by an independent medical team. His attempt to remove his electronic ankle monitor complicates this and he is now expected to serve at least some of his time in a privileged cell inside the Federal Police headquarters or Papuda penitentiary.

This first appeared in De-Linking Brazil.

The post Bolsonaro Arrested and Jailed in Brasilia appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

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