247 -  On Monday night (4), Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the house arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for repeated failure to comply with precautionary measures imposed within the scope of the criminal action on the attempted coup d'état after the 2022 elections. The decision was marked by harsh criticism of the former president's conduct and his insistence on defying court orders.

In one of the most emphatic passages, Moraes wrote: "JUSTICE IS BLIND, BUT IT IS NOT FOOLISH. JUSTICE WILL NOT ALLOW A DEFENDANT TO MAKE A FOOL OF IT, THINKING THAT HE WILL GO UNPUNISHED BECAUSE HE HAS POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC POWER."

The minister stated that Bolsonaro violated the Supreme Court's rulings by participating, albeit virtually, in demonstrations calling for foreign intervention against the Supreme Court and directly attacking the Brazilian judiciary. Among the evidence cited are videos produced by the former president and shared on the social media of his sons and allies, as well as a video call with federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), during the pro-Bolsonaro rally this Sunday (3), on Avenida Paulista.

According to Moraes, there was “clear content of encouragement and instigation to attacks on the FEDERAL SUPREME COURT and overt support for foreign intervention in the Brazilian Judiciary”.

According to the ruling, the violation of the measures was so evident that the former president's own son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, removed a post from Instagram in an attempt to erase traces of the violation: "The flagrant disregard for the precautionary measures was so obvious that, let us repeat, the defendant's own son [...] decided to remove the post [...] in order to conceal the legal violation."

Moraes emphasized that this is Bolsonaro's second violation, which would justify his arrest: "A DEFENDANT WHO DELIBERATELY FAILS TO COMPLY WITH PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES – FOR THE SECOND TIME – MUST SUFFER THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES."

The minister also emphasized that the former president acted with the objective of obstructing investigations and coercing state institutions: “The defendant reiterated his criminal conduct [...] with the clear intent of obstructing justice, demonstrating the continuity of his criminal conduct in relation to the crimes of coercion during the course of the proceedings (art. 344 of the Penal Code) and obstruction of the investigation of a criminal offense involving a criminal organization (art. 2, §1, of Law 12.850/13).”

In the final part of the order, Moraes ordered: “Comply with me, urgently.”

Imposed measures

The decision determines that Jair Bolsonaro will serve house arrest at his residence, under the following conditions: