TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Supreme Court of Brazil placed former President Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest on Monday ahead of his trial for alleged coup plot. This underscores the determination of the Brazilian judiciary despite increased tariffs and sanctions from U.S. President Donald Trump.
As reported by CNA, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who was targeted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury last week, issued the arrest warrant for Bolsonaro.
His decision cited Bolsonaro's failure to comply with the detention order imposed on him, prompting Trump's intervention in the case.
Bolsonaro is being tried in the Supreme Court of Brazil for conspiring with allies to forcibly overturn his 2022 election loss to left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Trump has referred to this case as a “witch hunt” and cited it as the basis for the 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods that took effect last Wednesday.
Moraes' order issued on Monday also prohibits Bolsonaro from using a cellphone or receiving visitors, except for his lawyers and court-authorized individuals.
A spokesperson for Bolsonaro's press confirmed that he was placed under house arrest on Monday night at his residence in Brasília by police who seized his cellphone.
Bolsonaro's lawyers stated that they will appeal the decision, arguing that the former president did not violate any court order.
In an interview last month, Bolsonaro referred to Moraes as a “dictator” and said that the detention order against him was an act of “cowardice.”
Some of Bolsonaro's allies are worried that Trump's tactics may backfire in Brazil, exacerbating problems for Bolsonaro and rallying public support behind the left-wing government of Lula.
However, demonstrations on Sunday by Bolsonaro's supporters—the largest in months—indicated that Trump’s reprimands and sanctions against Moraes have also fueled the political base of the former right-wing army captain.
Bolsonaro appeared virtually at a protest in Rio de Janeiro via a phone call to his son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in what some saw as a fresh challenge to his detention order.
On Monday, Senator Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil that Moraes' order on Monday was “a clear demonstration of retaliation” against the U.S. sanctions on the judge.
“I hope the Supreme Court can put the brakes on this person (Moraes) causing so much upheaval,” he added.
The judge's order, including the arrest warrant with the threat of apprehension, has been upheld by the court.
This order and the larger case before the Supreme Court come after two years of investigation into Bolsonaro's role in the election rejection movement that culminated in riots by his supporters that shook Brasília in January 2023. The riots echoed the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol after Trump's 2020 election defeat.
Unlike the relatively stalled criminal case against Trump, the Brazilian judiciary has swiftly moved against Bolsonaro, threatening to end his political career and fracture the right-wing movement. The electoral court has banned Bolsonaro from running for public office until 2030.
Another of Bolsonaro's sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a member of the Brazilian congress, moved to the U.S. around the same time as the start of the former president's criminal trial to garner support for his father in Washington. Bolsonaro’s son stated that this move influenced Trump’s decision to impose new tariffs on Brazil.
In a statement after the arrest on Monday, Congressman Bolsonaro referred to Moraes as “an uncontrolled psychopath who never hesitates to duplicate his crimes.”
Last month, Trump shared a letter he sent to Bolsonaro. “"I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you,” he wrote. “This trial should end immediately!”
Washington imposed its sanctions on Moraes last week on the grounds that the judge allowed arbitrary pretrial detention and suppressed freedom of expression.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Bolsonaro's house arrest.
The arrest could provide Trump with a pretext for further actions against Brazil, said Graziella Testa, a political science professor at the Federal University of Paraná, adding that Bolsonaro appears to be deliberately provoking escalation.
“I think things could escalate because this will be seen as a reaction to the Magnitsky sanction," said Leonardo Barreto, a partner at the political risk consultancy Think Policy in Brasília, referring to the asset freeze imposed on Moraes last week.
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