Brazil’s former president has been put under house arrest while he is on trial for allegedly plotting to stage a coup.
On Monday, the country’s Supreme Court ordered Jair Bolsonaro to remain at home and for police to seize all the mobile phones in his property after he broke legal restrictions that stop him using social media.
Prosecutors accuse the right-wing politician of heading a criminal organisation that plotted to overturn the 2022 election and kill President Lula and a Supreme Court justice.
He is also accused of using social media to encourage Donald Trump to interfere in his case.
A demonstrator wears a Bolsonaro mask during a protest against Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazilian products on 1 August. File pic: Reuters
‘Flagrant disrespect’
Under Monday’s new restrictions, visitors authorised to see Bolsonaro will not be allowed to record the politician or post on his behalf.
The ruling came after the 70-year-old used his sons’ social media channels to speak to supporters during a rally in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
Through his son’s mobile phone, he told protesters: “Good afternoon, Copacabana, good afternoon my Brazil, a hug to everyone, this is for our freedom.”
“The flagrant disrespect to the precautionary measures was so obvious that the defendant’s son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, decided to remove the posting in his Instagram profile, with the objective of hiding the legal transgression,” the judge wrote in his Monday ruling.
‘No limits!’
Bolsonaro’s lawyers say he will appeal the new restrictions and his words cannot “be regarded as ignoring precautionary measures or as a criminal act”.
Flavio 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.
Last week, Mr Trump used Bolsonaro’s trial, which he describes as a “witch hunt”, to justify imposing 50% tariffs on Brazil.
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Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the trial, also had sanctions placed on him by the US for allegedly suppressing freedom of expression and the ongoing trial of Bolsonaro.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took to the streets to plead for the former president to be pardoned, along with hundreds of others who are on trial for destroying government buildings in Brasilia on 8 January 2023.
On that day, Bolsonaro supporters stormed the buildings that symbolise Brazil’s democracy, a week after Lula had taken office.
They rejected his election victory and urged the military to overthrow him.