Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Sunday that his attempt to break an electronic house arrest ankle bracelet, which he wore due to a coup attempt sentence he received in September, was caused by the effects of drugs he was taking. On Saturday, Bolsonaro was arrested at his home in Brasilia and detained at a police station in the city for this attempt, as he was considered a flight risk.
Bolsonaro, who is 70 years old and ruled Brazil between 2019 and 2022, was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison for participating in the organization of a coup (never carried out) to remain in power despite losing the 2022 presidential election. The plot included, among other things, the arrest or murder of the election winner, current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his vice president, and Supreme Court judges.
As of Saturday, Bolsonaro was still under house arrest and not in prison because Brazilian law states that the entire trial process must be completed before starting to serve a sentence in prison, and the former president can still appeal to the Supreme Court. A final decision on the matter is expected to be taken in November, while on Monday a hearing will be held to authorize or cancel preventive detention, which involves a separate process and is motivated precisely by the risk of flight. Preventive detention was ordered by influential Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes questions former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at the Supreme Court, Brasilia, Brazil, June 10, 2025 (Arthur Menescal/Getty Images)
On Sunday, at a hearing at the Supreme Court, Bolsonaro admitted that he had tried to tamper with the ankle bracelet using a welding machine, a tool he already had at home. Bolsonaro said he had hallucinations that made him believe there was a bug in his electronic ankle bracelet, which then prompted him to tamper with it. Bolsonaro’s doctor explained during the trial that the behavior may have been a side effect of taking different medications at the same time.
Bolsonaro is taking pregabalin, a sedative often used to treat anxiety disorders, as well as several medications he regularly takes to treat seizures. According to doctors, the interaction between these drugs could result in changes in mental status, including hallucinations: to avoid such problems they decided to stop administering pregabalin.
Saturday’s arrest also came as judges feared Bolsonaro wanted to exploit a demonstration in his support organized by his son Eduardo (scheduled for Saturday) to flee and request political asylum in a foreign embassy.
Bolsonaro’s ally, lawmaker Alexandre Ramagem, left Brazil in September and, according to journalistic investigations, is now in Miami. He has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in the same trial and like Bolsonaro is awaiting the outcome of an appeal.
– Read also: The trial of Bolsonaro is a historic trial
