The preventive detention of Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil, provoked a strong reaction among his political allies, who denounced the measure as persecution and increased pressure for Congress to approve an amnesty that would benefit him and others convicted for the attempted coup.
The decision, made by the Supreme Court, reignited the debate on political polarization and institutional stability in the country.
Bolsonaro was preventively detained this Saturday at his residence in Brasilia, where he had been under house arrest since August 4 for noncompliance with precautionary measures in the framework of the coup process.
According to the Supreme Court, the former president attempted to break the electronic ankle monitor tracking his movements in an effort to escape during a demonstration organized by one of his sons in front of his home. Following his arrest, agents transferred him to the headquarters of the Federal Police Superintendency in Brasília, where he remains in a private room awaiting further judicial orders. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court's rapporteur for the case, based the order on the existence of a"concrete risk of flight" and a "threat to public order."
The reaction from Bolsonaro's inner circle was immediate. Sóstenes Cavalcante, a congressman and head of the Liberal Party in the lower house, denounced on social media: “Jair Bolsonaro's imprisonment is the greatest political persecution in Brazilian history!”
For her part, Michelle Bolsonaro, the former president's wife, expressed her confidence in the justice system and thanked everyone for their support, while also appealing to faith: “We continue to pray. Brazil needs our intercession.”
Fabio Wajngarten, spokesman for the Bolsonaro family, criticized the court decision for having occurred on a Saturday and amid the former president's delicate state of health, calling the situation"shameful."
Meanwhile, Senator Damares Alves, former Minister of Women and Family, urged the Chamber of Deputies to vote “immediately for an amnesty.”
The amnesty bill, championed by Bolsonaro's supporters, has become the main focus of political pressure in Congress. The initiative seeks to exempt Bolsonaro and others convicted for their involvement in the attempted coup from criminal liability.
However, the project's progress faces obstacles: the legislator in charge of drafting it has not been able to reach a consensus on the text with the main political forces, which has left the proposal stalled and without a date for its debate in plenary session.
At the heart of the crisis is the sentence handed down on September 11 by the Supreme Federal Court, which sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for leading a coup plot after losing the 2022 elections to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The preventive detention ordered this Saturday does not constitute the execution of that sentence, but a precautionary measure adopted in response to the rejection of the first appeals and the perception of a flight risk.
