Arrested due to flight risk Bolsonaro damages anklet with a soldering iron - "out of curiosity"
Brazil's ex-president is arrested - and admits to burning his ankle cuff while under house arrest. A video shows traces of the tampering attempt. Was he trying to escape?
23.11.2025, 17:24
dpa
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- Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro has burned his electronic ankle cuff with a soldering iron, but denies wanting to remove it.
- Due to fears of a possible escape, a judge arrested him preventively despite an ongoing appeal against his long prison sentence.
- While the US government criticizes the actions of the Brazilian judiciary, Bolsonaro's lawyers defend him and speak of a distorted account of events.
Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro claims to have damaged his electronic anklet with a soldering iron the night before his arrest. "I held a hot iron to it. Out of curiosity", Bolsonaro told a police officer during an inspection of the device, as can be seen on a video published by the Supreme Court. When asked whether it was an iron, Bolsonaro replied: "No, a soldering iron." However, he affirmed that he had not wanted to remove the ankle cuff that he had to wear during his house arrest.
The video shows that the plastic housing of the radio device, which is estimated to be just under ten centimetres in size, is scorched all around Bolsonaro's ankle. However, according to the official, the actual device "apparently remained intact".
Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro was under house arrest for violating court orders. (Archive image)
Image: dpa
Bolsonaro was arrested because of a "concrete flight risk". (archive image)
Image: dpa
The electronic ankle bracelet on Bolsonaro's left ankle is a source of controversy. (archive image)
Image: dpa
Bolsonaro's son Flavio appeared at a vigil in front of his father's house.
Image: dpa
Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro was under house arrest for violating court orders. (Archive image)
Image: dpa
Bolsonaro was arrested because of a "concrete flight risk". (archive image)
Image: dpa
The electronic ankle bracelet on Bolsonaro's left ankle is a source of controversy. (archive image)
Image: dpa
Bolsonaro's son Flavio appeared at a vigil in front of his father's house.
Image: dpa
Bolsonaro had been under house arrest since August for violating court orders. Early on Saturday morning (local time), he was arrested on suspicion of being a "concrete flight risk" and a "threat to public order". This was not the execution of his sentence for an attempted coup d'état, for which he was sentenced to over 27 years in prison in September. The sentence is not yet final, but was last expected to be carried out next week.
Judge feared Bolsonaro would flee
According to the investigators, the decision to arrest him was based on new findings by the federal police. Shortly after midnight, the ankle bracelet had triggered an alarm, which indicated an attempt at manipulation. In addition, the ex-president's son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, had previously called for an all-night vigil in front of his father's house.
According to federal judge Alexandre de Moraes, the tumultuous nature of this "vigil" could have made it more difficult to control the house arrest and allowed Bolsonaro to escape under cover of chaos - possibly to the nearby embassy of a country sympathetic to him, such as the USA, where he could have hidden from prosecutors. Moraes then decided to preventively detain Bolsonaro.
The government of US President Donald Trump supports the right-wing conservative ex-military man Bolsonaro, who has still not accepted his election defeat in 2022 and, according to the Supreme Court, was planning a coup d'état against the government of his left-wing successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with military and political allies. Washington accuses the Brazilian judiciary of a politically motivated campaign against Bolsonaro.
Lawyers come to Bolsonaro's defense
Following the arrest of the ex-president, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau described the nationally known judge Moraes as a "human rights violator" who had disgraced the Supreme Court with his "provocative" actions. "The United States is deeply concerned about his recent attack on the rule of law and political stability in Brazil," Landau wrote on Platform X.
Bolsonaro's lawyer Paulo Cunha Bueno gave no explanation for the damage to the anklet. He emphasized that the "prayer vigil" was protected by the constitution as a religious event. Despite the published evidence from the Supreme Court and Bolsonaro's statements on the use of a soldering iron, the lawyer spoke of a distorted portrayal by the judiciary that "seeks to justify the unjustifiable".
