Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has admitted to tampering with his ankle tag while under house arrest due to medication-induced hallucinations. The far-right leader claimed that a mix of medicines prescribed by different doctors caused him to experience paranoia, leading him to take a soldering iron to the monitoring device in an attempt to uncover what he believed was a wiretap.
Bolsonaro told a Supreme Court judge that the hallucinations began around midnight and lasted until the next morning when he stopped using the soldering iron and informed the officers in charge of his custody. His lawyers had previously argued that he should remain under house arrest due to poor health, but the judge has rejected similar requests in the past.
The former president's admission comes after a panel of Brazil's Supreme Court ruled in September that Bolsonaro tried to stage a coup and keep the presidency after his defeat by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022. He was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
Bolsonaro's arrest on Saturday came after police reports he had attempted to violate the ankle tag, which made him a potential flight risk. The Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest hours later, citing information at 12:08am that the tag had been violated.
In a bizarre twist, President Lula made his first comments about Bolsonaro's jailing while attending a meeting of the Group of 20 bloc of nations in South Africa. "The court ruled, that's decided. Everyone knows what he did," Lula said.
A vote on the pre-emptive arrest order is scheduled for Monday, and it remains to be seen whether Bolsonaro will face additional charges related to his attempted coup.
Bolsonaro told a Supreme Court judge that the hallucinations began around midnight and lasted until the next morning when he stopped using the soldering iron and informed the officers in charge of his custody. His lawyers had previously argued that he should remain under house arrest due to poor health, but the judge has rejected similar requests in the past.
The former president's admission comes after a panel of Brazil's Supreme Court ruled in September that Bolsonaro tried to stage a coup and keep the presidency after his defeat by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022. He was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
Bolsonaro's arrest on Saturday came after police reports he had attempted to violate the ankle tag, which made him a potential flight risk. The Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest hours later, citing information at 12:08am that the tag had been violated.
In a bizarre twist, President Lula made his first comments about Bolsonaro's jailing while attending a meeting of the Group of 20 bloc of nations in South Africa. "The court ruled, that's decided. Everyone knows what he did," Lula said.
A vote on the pre-emptive arrest order is scheduled for Monday, and it remains to be seen whether Bolsonaro will face additional charges related to his attempted coup.
I mean, Bolsonaro's gotta be outta his mind, right? trying to solder a wiretap out of his ankle tag... what even is that? 
I feel bad for the guy, though - he's clearly losing it with all these meds and paranoia getting the best of him. And poor Lula, always on top of things, making comments while attending meetings 
like, you're busy saving the world, prez 
I'm not buying it, Supreme Court. You gotta do better than that.
and sometimes they just lose it...
. Apparently, he was under house arrest for health reasons, but then he goes and tries to solder his ankle tag together thinking it was a wiretap? That's just wild 
. His lawyers said he had medication-induced hallucinations, but you'd think that would've stopped him from trying something so reckless 
. I'm not one to take sides or anything, but it does seem like he's getting what's coming to him 
. Lula made some pretty clear comments about it too, which is cool 
.
. It's crazy how fast this all went down 
. Anyway, we'll see what happens next with that pre-emptive arrest vote on Monday 
. Will Bolsonaro get more charges? Only time will tell 
and now the whole situation is a mess with Lula making comments about it while he's off doing his G20 thing... it's all just so dramatic 
. but seriously, what even is going through Bolsonaro's head? did he really think that was gonna work? 
and I'm still wondering how he thought he could pull off a coup when he's basically being held captive by the system 
.
. And now he's got 27+ years in prison hanging over his head... not sure if it'll ever get overturned. Lula said the court ruled and all that, but I feel like there's more drama going down behind closed doors 
.
. Guess we'll have to wait and see if Bolsonaro gets more charges or whatnot 
... On the other hand, Lula's response seems super calm considering the situation, maybe too chill? I don't know, it all feels so weird and messy 
President Lula seems pretty chill about the whole thing too, I love how calm and collected he is 
. Can't wait to see what happens next Monday with that vote 
But honestly, I'm not surprised. The man has been trying to undermine democracy since day one 
Anyone who thinks they can just stage a coup and get away with it needs to be held accountable 
Lula's right, the court ruled and that's settled 
.
. I mean, who tries to solder their own ankle tag? It's just wild. And now he's admitting to it... that's just crazy talk 
. I remember when politicians were supposed to be dignified and above all that. This Bolsonaro guy is like a character from a soap opera 
. And poor Lula, stuck in the middle of this mess 
And what's with the soldering iron thingy... dude, that's not even a serious attempt at espionage 
, it's like something outta a bad action movie 
. My money's on him getting more charges added to that 27-year sentence 
.
I mean, who tries to use a soldering iron on an ankle tag? It sounds like something out of a conspiracy theory novel... and that's exactly what it is 
. Plus, Lula's comments about Bolsonaro getting "what he deserved" seem kinda... rehearsed 
.
at least lula isnt commenting much on it yet, maybe thats just a clever move tho 