Brazil's former president placed under house arrest after social media post
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.
'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.
1:49
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail again ahead of sentencing
Why you can trust Sky News Sean "Diddy" Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges. Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial. Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year. During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them. In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution - but cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, which carried potential life sentences. The rapper's legal team hailed this a "victory" and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges. After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again. In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: "Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn't change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears." He also found that an argument by the music star's legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release. "The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners," the judge wrote. "But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate." As well as Combs's bail application, his legal team has also filed a motion calling for him to be acquitted or given a new trial on the prostitution-related charges only. The judge has not yet responded to this application. 4:43 How long could Diddy be jailed for? Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury's verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served. However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper's punishment. On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue. The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was "very hostile" during his presidential campaign. Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture - a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Toddler found in the street after mother abandoned her to go and party
A three-year-old girl was rescued from a street in southeastern Brazil after she was found wandering along crying for her 19-year-old mother, who left her home to go to a party. Construction workers were repairing a street Santo Andre, Sao Paulo during the earlier hours of Sunday when they spotted the child wearing only a diaper and called the military police. Surveillance video footage showed the barefoot girl reaching a corner at the intersection Pero Vaz Street when she stopped as a car sped by at 1:31am. She stood over a manhole cover for a couple of seconds and went to cross the street when she began to cry. 'I want my mommy,' she repeatedly said. The construction crew alerted the police and got help from local residents, who provided clothing to cover up the girl. 'She was blue from the cold,' one of the workers, Rafael Cruz, told SBT News. 'She just kept saying she wanted her mommy. The child's maternal grandmother appeared on the scene about an hour after she was found. The girl's mother did not return home until around 4am and was placed under arrest after she confessed to abandoning her daughter to attend the party. The mother is facing one count of child abandonment. 'The woman returned home and confessed that she had left her daughter sleeping to go to a nearby funk dance,' the Sao Paulo Department of Public Safety said in a statement. Her daughter was placed under the custody of the Sao Paulo child services agency. The mother's stepfather told SBT News that it was the first time that she had ever left the child alone at home. 'She's wrong, I agree,' he said. 'There's a child involved and she has to think about her.'
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Bolsonaro under house arrest after social media post during coup trial
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's former president, has been placed under house arrest for posting on social media during his trial for plotting a coup. The 70-year-old is banned from social media for the duration of the proceedings, and third parties are not allowed to share 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. Mr Bolsonaro is currently on trial at the Supreme Court accused of leading an attempt to stage a coup to overturn the 2022 election, in which he was defeated by Left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 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'. Criticising 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 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. US president Donald Trump has sought to punish Brazil, a long-time US ally, for what he sees as a politically motivated 'witch hunt' targeting Mr Bolsonaro by imposing eye-watering tariffs on Latin America's biggest economy and sanctioning the judge in the trial. 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 Mr Moraes, who is presiding over Mr 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, Mr Moraes ordered Mr Bolsonaro to wear an ankle bracelet and instituted the social media ban. Trump responded in unprecedented fashion by banning Mr Moraes from the United States and freezing his assets in US banks. Mr Trump's pressure campaign has angered many Brazilians but endeared him to Mr 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.' Mr 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. Mr Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Brazil's congress in January 2023, after Mr 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, Mr 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 hospitalised for a brain haemorrhage caused by a bathroom fall.
