Brazil's former president Bolsonaro ordered to wear an electronic ankle monitor
A police statement said that officers in Brasilia carried out two search and seizure warrants in addition to precautionary measures other than arrest in compliance with a decision by the Supreme Court. The statement did not name Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro is currently on trial at the Supreme Court accused of leading an alleged attempt to stage a coup to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Live aerial footage from local broadcasters showed federal police vehicles outside Bolsonaro's residence in Brasília. Congressman Sostenes Cavalcante, the leader of Bolsonaro's party in the lower house, told The Associated Press that officers also searched Bolsonaro's office at the party's headquarters. He described the operation as 'another chapter in the persecution of conservatives and right-wing figures in Brazil.' A lawyer for Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, Brazil's Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a report to the Supreme Court that 'the evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law.' Bolsonaro has described the trial on X as a 'witch hunt,' echoing a term used by Trump when he came to his South American ally's defense last week.
Last week, Trump imposed a 50 percent import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro's trial. The US president has hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. Trump compared the Brazilian's situation to his own. On Tuesday, speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump repeated the claim that the trial is a 'witch hunt.'
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