©️Reuters
Brasília, 22 November 2025.- The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was arrested on Saturday, 22 November, at his home in Brasília, a few days before the scheduled start of his prison sentence for attempted coup d'état. Supreme Court refers to a risk « high » This was reinforced by a rally organized by his son Flávio Bolsonaro and a violation of his electronic bracelet. The lawyers of the former Head of State challenge the charges and denounce political treatment.
According to the Federal Police, the preventive arrest of Jair Bolsonaro was executed on Saturday morning at the request of the authorities and validated by the Supreme Court. The judges claim to have received information indicating a real risk of attempting to escape as he approaches the beginning of his 27-year prison sentence, pronounced for orchestrating an attempt to maintain power after his defeat in 2022 against Lula da Silva.
The Supreme Court reported that on the eve of the arrest, an appeal for a rally by Flávio Bolsonaro in front of his father's residence had aroused suspicion from the authorities. This gathering, according to the magistrates, could have led to a flight through confusion. Judges also report a violation detected on the electronic bracelet of the former president in the night, reinforcing the thesis of an escape preparation.
The lawyers of the former president categorically refute the charges, claiming that Bolsonaro was at home, under police surveillance, and in a fragile state of health. They ensure that the mobilization envisaged by his son was constitutionally entitled to assembly and had no connection with an attempt to escape. Flávio Bolsonaro, for his part, did not respond to requests for reaction, but called on his supporters to « pray » for his father and « Democracy ».
Sentenced for attempted coup d'état, participation in an armed criminal organisation and attacks on institutions, Jair Bolsonaro denounced from the beginning a « political harassment ». His conviction follows a series of trials also involving military and a police officer accused of plotting and preparing for an assassination against Lula. His preventive arrest marks a further escalation in a political crisis that continues to divide Brazil deeply.
W.A.
