Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has confessed to tampering with his ankle monitoring device while under house arrest due to medication-induced hallucinations, according to a report by the Supreme Court of Brazil.
In a custody hearing on Sunday, Bolsonaro claimed that he experienced "paranoia" and "hallucinations" after changing his medication regimen. He told Assistant Judge Luciana Sorrentino that these symptoms led him to believe there was a wiretap in the ankle tag, prompting him to take a soldering iron to it.
Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year and three-month prison sentence for attempting a military coup after losing the 2022 presidential election, denied any intention of escaping. He stated that his medication changes were responsible for the episode, saying he began taking one of them just four days before his detention on Saturday morning.
The arrest was prompted by reports from police that Bolsonaro had attempted to tamper with his ankle tag, which rendered him a potential flight risk. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest hours later after receiving information about the incident.
Bolsonaro's lawyers argued in Sunday's hearing that their client should remain under house arrest due to health concerns. However, the judge has previously rejected similar requests.
The Supreme Court had ruled in September that Bolsonaro attempted to stage a coup and keep the presidency after his defeat by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022, sentencing him to 27 years and three months in prison. A vote is scheduled on Monday regarding an order for pre-emptive arrest.
President Lula made his first comments about his predecessor's jailing at a meeting of the Group of 20 nations in South Africa, stating, "The court ruled, that's decided. Everyone knows what he did."
In a custody hearing on Sunday, Bolsonaro claimed that he experienced "paranoia" and "hallucinations" after changing his medication regimen. He told Assistant Judge Luciana Sorrentino that these symptoms led him to believe there was a wiretap in the ankle tag, prompting him to take a soldering iron to it.
Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year and three-month prison sentence for attempting a military coup after losing the 2022 presidential election, denied any intention of escaping. He stated that his medication changes were responsible for the episode, saying he began taking one of them just four days before his detention on Saturday morning.
The arrest was prompted by reports from police that Bolsonaro had attempted to tamper with his ankle tag, which rendered him a potential flight risk. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest hours later after receiving information about the incident.
Bolsonaro's lawyers argued in Sunday's hearing that their client should remain under house arrest due to health concerns. However, the judge has previously rejected similar requests.
The Supreme Court had ruled in September that Bolsonaro attempted to stage a coup and keep the presidency after his defeat by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022, sentencing him to 27 years and three months in prison. A vote is scheduled on Monday regarding an order for pre-emptive arrest.
President Lula made his first comments about his predecessor's jailing at a meeting of the Group of 20 nations in South Africa, stating, "The court ruled, that's decided. Everyone knows what he did."
news! Like, can you even believe Bolsonaro tried to solder his own ankle tag with a wiretap thinking it was real?! 
That's some crazy paranoia right there! And poor guy's been taking on too many meds, like, who changes medication mid-detention? 
Anyway, I'm all about fairness and justice so yeah, 27 years seems like a pretty reasonable sentence to me... but I guess you can't blame the guy for trying to stay one step ahead 
. Lula's comments tho, "The court ruled, that's decided" 
- love it!
Bolsonaro trying to solder wiretap into his ankle monitor and now he's saying it was all due to meds 
! His doc says he started taking new meds 4 days before the incident, and he even changed his medication regimen just 2 weeks ago 
. Anyways 
did you know that Brazil has a high incarceration rate? 
According to the World Prison Brief, Brazil has one of the highest rates in the world, with about 643 prisoners per 100,000 people 
[insert graph: Brazil prison population growth]
this whole thing stinks to me... like someone's trying to send a message or distract us from something bigger. I mean Bolsonaro's just sitting at home under house arrest and suddenly his medication regimen causes him to freak out and try to solder wires into his ankle tag? 
it sounds like an act to me, especially considering the timing with this vote about pre-emptive arrest... what if Lula wanted to get rid of Bolsonaro before he could spill some beans? 
or maybe it's just a convenient excuse to keep him locked up while they figure out how to silence him permanently? 
I'm not buying it, there's more to this story than meets the eye...
That's just rich. I mean, I get it, maybe the meds were playing tricks on him, but still... he's got some serious nerve. And let's be real, this guy's history of trying to stage a military coup and all, you'd think he'd know better than to mess with his own ankle tag 
Anyway, it's pretty wild that Bolsonaro thought there was a wiretap in his ankle tag and decided to take matters into his own hands. I guess you could say he really wanted to "tag" along with the judges' orders... 
He's already serving a long prison sentence and now we find out he was tampering with his ankle monitoring device because of medication-induced hallucinations? 
That's some wild stuff. It raises so many questions about the justice system and how it handles people in vulnerable positions. I mean, is this really an effective way to manage someone who's already been deemed a flight risk? 
.
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. I'm not saying he didn't try to manipulate the situation, but this sounds like a pretty convenient excuse to me 
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. The fact that Lula is so calm about it is suspicious too 