Brazil judge puts ex-president Bolsonaro under house arrest
Bolsonaro is on trial at the Supreme Court for allegedly plotting to cling onto power after losing 2022 elections to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
President Donald Trump has sought to punish Brazil, a longtime US ally, for what he sees as a politically motivated "witch hunt" targeting Bolsonaro by imposing eye-watering tariffs on Latin America's biggest economy.
The 70-year-old Bolsonaro is banned from social media for the duration of the proceedings, and third parties are barred from sharing his public remarks.
But on Sunday, his allies defied the order by sharing footage online of a call between the former army captain and his eldest son Flavio at a solidarity rally in Rio de Janeiro.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes reacted furiously, declaring that the judiciary would not allow a defendant to "treat it like a fool" because of his "political and economic power."
Criticizing Bolsonaro's "repeated failure" to comply with the court's restrictions on him during the trial, he placed him under house arrest at his home in the capital Brasilia.
He also barred the country's former leader (2019-2022) from receiving visitors, apart from his lawyers, and from using mobile phones, and warned that any new transgression would lead to him being detained.
Several mobile phones were seized at his home on Monday, the police said.
Washington condemned the new restrictions on Monday night, with the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs issuing a statement on X.
"Minister Alexandre de Moraes, already sanctioned by the United States for human rights violations, continues to use Brazilian institutions to silence the opposition and threaten democracy," the bureau posted. "Let Bolsonaro speak!"
US officials added that they would "hold accountable all those who collaborate with or facilitate sanctioned conduct."
The US post was re-shared by Bolsonaro's politician son Eduardo Bolsonaro, who had successfully lobbied Washington to take punitive action against Brazil over the case.
In a separate post, he wrote: "Brazil is no longer a democracy."
He called Moraes, who is presiding over Bolsonaro's trial and has styled himself a defender of Brazilian democracy in the face of the far right, an "out-of-control psychopath."
Last month, Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to wear an ankle bracelet and instituted the social media ban.
Trump responded in unprecedented fashion by banning Moraes from the United States and freezing his assets in US banks.
- 'Thank you Trump' -
Trump's pressure campaign has angered many Brazilians but endeared him to Bolsonaro's conservative base.
At rallies in Rio, Brasilia and Sao Paulo on Sunday, some demonstrators waved US flags or held signs reading "Thank you Trump."
Bolsonaro himself did not attend the rallies, having been ordered by the Supreme Court to stay home at night and at weekends throughout the trial.
Prosecutors say he and seven co-accused tried to overturn his 2022 election defeat in a plot that only failed because the military did not get on board.
He faces a 40-year sentence if convicted at the trial, which is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks.
Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Brazil's congress in January 2023, after Lula was inaugurated, ransacking the chambers and attacking police, in scenes reminiscent of an attack by Trump supporters on the US Capitol two years before.
Despite being barred from running, Bolsonaro hopes to mount a Trump-style comeback in Brazil's 2026 presidential election.
Lula, 79, has said he may seek a fourth term, health permitting.
Last year, he was hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage caused by a bathroom fall.
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The trial of the far-right leader is receiving renewed attention after President Trump directly tied a 50% tariff on imported Brazilian goods to his ally's judicial situation. Mr. Trump has called the proceedings a " witch hunt," triggering nationalist reactions from leaders of all branches of power in Brazil, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Hours after the decision, the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on X that the Trump administration "condemns (de) Moraes' order imposing house arrest on Bolsonaro and will hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct." "Putting even more restrictions on Jair Bolsonaro's ability to defend himself in public is not a public service. Let Bolsonaro speak!" the post said. Brazil's government hasn't commented on the case. Brazil's prosecutors accuse Bolsonaro of heading a criminal organization that plotted to overturn the election, including plans to kill Lula and Justice de Moraes after the far-right leader narrowly lost his reelection bid in 2022. Monday's order followed one from the top court last month that ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle monitor and imposed a curfew on his activities while the proceedings are underway. Following news of the arrest order, a staffer with Brazil's federal police told The Associated Press federal agents had seized cell phones at Bolsonaro's residence in the capital of Brasilia, as ordered by de Moraes in his decision. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity due to their lack of authorization to speak about the matter publicly. De Moraes also warned that any new transgression would lead to him being detained, French news agency AFP reports. Bolsonaro is expected to remain in Brasilia for his house arrest as he isn't allowed to travel. He also has a house in Rio de Janeiro, where he held his electoral base as a lawmaker for three decades. The former army captain is the fourth former president of Brazil to be arrested since the end of the country's military rule from 1964 to 1985, which Bolsonaro supported. The move from the Brazilian justice comes a day after tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took the streets in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio, pleading for Brazil's congress to pardon him and hundreds of others who are either under trial or jailed for their roles in the destruction of government buildings in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023. On Sunday, Bolsonaro addressed supporters in Rio through the phone of one of his sons, which de Moraes' described as illegal. "The flagrant disrespect to the precautionary measures was so obvious that the defendant's son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, decided to remove the posting in his Instagram profile, with the objective of hiding the legal transgression," de Moraes wrote. Flávio Bolsonaro claimed on X that Brazil "is officially in a dictatorship" after his father's house arrest. "The persecution of de Moraes against Bolsonaro has no limits!" the senator wrote. De Moraes added in his ruling that Jair Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, has spread messages with "a clear content of encouragement and instigation to attacks against the Supreme Court and a blatant support for foreign intervention in the Brazilian Judiciary" - likely a veiled reference to Mr. Trump's support for Bolsonaro. De Moraes also said Bolsonaro "addressed protesters gathered in Copacabana, in Rio" on Sunday so his supporters could "try to coerce the Supreme Court." Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on de Moraes over alleged suppression of freedom of expression regarding Bolsonaro's trial. On Monday, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs called the Brazilian justice "a U.S.-sanctioned human rights abuser" and accused him of using "institutions to silence opposition and threaten democracy." De Moraes said in his decision that "(Brazil's) judiciary will not allow a defendant to make a fool out of it." "Justice is the same for all. A defendant who willingly ignores precautionary measures - for the second time - must suffer legal consequences," he said. Creomar de Souza, a political analyst of Dharma Political Risk and Strategy, a political consultancy firm based in Brasilia, said Bolsonaro's house arrest opens a new moment for the country's opposition, which will could gather steam in fighting against Lula's reelection bid next year. Now, de Souza said, "the 2026 election looks like turmoil" and the political debate in Brazil will likely be split between two key struggles. "One is the effort of Bolsonaro supporters to keep strong on the right, no matter if it is pushing for amnesty in congress or putting themselves physically out there," the analyst said. "The second is how the Lula administration will try to show that the country has a government." "This is just the start," he concluded. The latest decision from the top court keeps Bolsonaro under ankle monitoring, allows only family members and lawyers to visit him and seizes all mobile phones from his home. Lula was imprisoned for 580 days between 2018 and 2019 in a corruption conviction that was later tossed out by the Supreme Court, citing the bias of the judge in the case. Michel Temer, who became president after Dilma Rousseff was impeached in 2016, was arrested for 10 days in 2019 in connection with a graft investigation, which later ended without a conviction. Earlier this year, de Moraes ordered the detention of President Fernando Collor, who was in office from 1990 to 1992 until he was impeached. The 75-year-old former president was convicted of money laundering and corruption in 2023 and is now serving his more than eight-year sentence. Hours after the order, right-wing lawmakers criticized de Moraes' decision and compared Bolsonaro's situation to that of his predecessors. "House arrest for Jair Bolsonaro by de Moraes. Reason: corruption?" asked lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira. "No. His kids posted his content on social media. Pathetic." The far-right leader is already barred from next year's election due to an abuse of power conviction by the country's top electoral court. Leftist lawmaker Duda Salabert said Bolsonaro's house arrest boosts Brazil's democracy. "And those who attacked it are about to pay," Salabert said.
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