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Brazil's ex-President Bolsonaro ordered to wear an ankle tag amid fears he may flee the country
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gestures during a demonstration against his judicial process and to demand the amnesty of all accused of taking part in the allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Reuters
Federal police of Brazil raided the mansion of the country's former President Jair Bolsonaro, ordering him to wear an electronic ankle tag. The order was delivered amid fears that Bolsonaro may abscond and avoid punishment over an alleged coup attempt.
The authorities also barred the former Brazilian president from communicating with foreign diplomats. The country's Supreme Court trial claimed that Bolsonaro was the mastermind of a murderous plot to seize power after losing the 2022 election against Brazil's current President Lula De Silva. The Supreme Court trial is expected to reach its conclusion in the coming weeks.
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While a guilty verdict is widely seen as the most likely outcome of the case, Bolsonaro's political opponent voiced concerns that the far-right leader might try to dodge up to 43 years of prison sentence by seeking refuge in a foreign embassy or even try to leave the country. In February last year, Bolsonaro spent two nights inside the Hungarian embassy in the capital, Brasília, after federal police seized his passport.
Trump's support raises fears
Speculations that Bolsonaro may flee abroad to avoid the prison sentence have intensified in recent days after US President Donald Trump announced that he would impose a 50 per cent trade tariff on Brazil as a result of what he called the 'witch-hunt' against his rightwing ally.
On Thursday, the American leader shared a letter he wrote to Bolsonaro on his social media platform TruthSocial, denouncing the 'terrible treatment' he claimed his ally was receiving from the Brazilian government.
Hours after the letter, the White House released a two-paragraph note of support for Bolsonaro. Soon after this, heavily armed federal police agents arrived outside Bolsonaro's home in a palm-lined upmarket corner of the capital called Botanical Garden. The authorities confirmed the raid in a brief statement.
They noted that two search warrants 'had been executed and a preventive measure has been imposed,' The Guardian reported. However, the statement made no mention of what those restrictions were, but local media reports said they included obliging Bolsonaro to wear a monitoring tag on his ankle, ordering him to remain at home between 7 pm and 7 am (Local time) and on weekends. The former Brazilian president has also been forbidden from speaking to foreign ambassadors or diplomats or visiting diplomatic compounds.
Apart from this, Bolsonaro is also barred from using social media, where he has millions of followers. According to Brazilian television network Globo, the police found $14,000 (£10,400) in cash during their search of Bolsonaro's two-storey villa. They also found a USB flash drive that had allegedly been 'hidden in the bathroom' and was also reportedly seized.
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Police investigate Trump-Bolsonaro ties
As per the Brazilian news outlet, the country's police is also investigating if the former president played any role in convincing Trump to hit Brazil with 50 per cent tariffs in an apparent attempt to pressure Brazilian authorities into dropping the charges against Bolsonaro or pardoning him.
Back in February, Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, travelled to the US and has reportedly spent recent weeks lobbying Trump administration officials to impose sanctions on Alexandre de Moraes, the high-profile supreme court judge presiding over the investigation into his father.
Last week, Eduardo lauded Trump's move to threaten tariffs against Brazil. 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP – MAKE BRAZIL FREE AGAIN.' However, the recent lobbying with the Trump administration may have backfired for the Bolsonaro camp. Latest polls floating in the country show Lula had a better standing compared to the far-right leader.
On Thursday night, Lula gave a televised address to the nation in which he attacked Trump's 'unacceptable blackmail' and painted the politicians who supported it as 'traitors to the nation'. 'Trying to meddle in the Brazilian judicial system represents a serious attack on national sovereignty,' Lula said.
While speaking to reporters outside his home, Bolsonaro denied all the accusations hurled against him. 'I have never thought about leaving Brazil. I have never thought about going into a [foreign] embassy,' Bolsonaro said, although he admitted he had been planning to have lunch with a group of ambassadors next week. 'I won't go any more,' he said, describing the police operation as 'supreme humiliation'. Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Bolsonaro's lawyer, Celso Vilardi, voiced 'surprise and anger' over the 'severe' restrictions imposed upon his client.
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