OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
7:16 AM – Saturday, November 22, 2025
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was taken into custody on Saturday, hours before a vigil was to be held outside his residence.
On Saturday, the former president’s period of house arrest ended after having been confined since August for violating a ban on the use of social media.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s son, posted a video on Friday calling for the assembly and saying, “I invite you to fight with us.”
Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that the planned vigil could “cause serious harm to public order,” and potentially prevent Bolsonaro from being arrested or enable his “escape,” according to a copy of the ruling.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that he violated his ankle monitor early on Saturday morning.
“That information shows the intent of the convict to break the ankle monitoring to assure his escape is successful, which would be made easier by the confusion that would be caused by a demonstration organized by his son,” the justice said.
Brazil’s Federal Police said in a statement that it conducted the arrest at the Supreme Court’s request to “ensure public order.”
The former president was taken to the Federal Police headquarters in the capital, where he will be held in a cell prepared especially for him.
Bolsonaro was found guilty in September of plotting a military coup after his election loss in 2022, becoming the first former president in Brazil to be convicted of the crime. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Moraes said that the arrest “must be carried out with full respect for the dignity of former president Jair Messias Bolsonaro, without the use of handcuffs and without any media exposure.”
President Donald Trump, a long-term ally of Bolsonaro, denounced the charges against the former Brazilian leader as politically motivated, calling it a “witch hunt.” He imposed sanctions on Moraes and a 50% tariff on United States imports of Brazilian goods in response, which he began to roll back this month following a meeting with current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
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