The defense of former president Jair Bolsonaro stated, this Saturday (22), that the electronic ankle bracelet was only placed to “cause humiliation” to the former president and that the escape with the equipment breaking is just a narrative to justify the arrest.
Bolsonaro was preventively arrested by the Federal Police, following a decision by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes.
“This ankle bracelet issue is a narrative that tries to justify the unjustifiable. President Bolsonaro would have no way of escaping, how to escape from his home. He has a vehicle armed with federal agents 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the door of his house”, said lawyer Paulo Cunha Bueno upon leaving the PF Superintendence in the Federal District, where Bolsonaro will be detained.
“The electronic ankle bracelet became, in this case, the symbol of the infamous sentence, the modern version of the infamous sentence. Its purpose was only to cause humiliation to the former president. There was no need for it. I am unaware of any individual in Brazil with an electronic ankle bracelet who has a permanent Federal Police escort at the door of his house”, added the lawyer.
Cunha Bueno also said that Bolsonaro “is an elderly man who suffers from serious health problems”, caused by complications resulting from the stab wound he suffered during the 2022 electoral campaign.
“An extremely fragile situation”, he highlighted, arguing that the former president was always available and never shied away from responding to justice.
The lawyer also compared Bolsonaro’s case with that of former president Fernando Collor de Melo. “It is inconceivable that former president Fernando Collor de Melo would be kept under house arrest due to sleep apnea and Parkinson’s disease, while President Bolsonaro would be subjected to a shameful arrest in Federal Police facilities given his extremely serious health condition,” he said.
This Friday (21), the Former President Bolsonaro used a soldering iron to try to open the electronic ankle braceletwhich generated an alert to the State Secretariat for Penitentiary Administration of the Federal District (Seap), responsible for monitoring the equipment. Minister Alexandre de Moraes gave 24 hours for the defense to comment on the attempted rape.
Also yesterday, senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) called, via social media, a prayer vigil near the house where his father, Jair Bolsonaro, had been under house arrest since August 4th.
In the decision that determined preventive detentioncites the violation of the ankle bracelet and says that the meeting could cause turmoil and even facilitate “a possible escape attempt by the defendant.”
Conviction
Sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison in the coup plot, Bolsonaro and the other defendants could have their sentences carried out in the coming weeks.
Last week, the First Panel of the Court rejected the so-called embargoes for declaration by the former president and six other defendants to reverse the convictions and avoid the execution of sentences in a closed regime.
This Sunday (23), the deadline for the defenses to present their last appeals ends. If appeals are rejected, arrests will be carried out.
According to lawyers, Bolsonaro has permanent illnesses, which require “intense medical monitoring” and, for this reason, the former president should remain under house arrest.
Regarding today’s preventive detention, the defense states that it will appeal the decision.
Bolsonaro was under house arrest due to non-compliance with precautionary measures already established by the STF.
They were determined in the investigation in which federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), son of the former president, is being investigated for his actions with the government of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to promote retaliatory measures against the Brazilian government and ministers of the Supreme Court.
