Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Placed Under House Arrest by Supreme Court

The Brazilian Supreme Court on Aug. 4 ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to be placed under house arrest as he undergoes trial over an alleged plot to overturn Brazil’s 2022 election results.

In issuing the order, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro had failed to comply with restraining orders imposed on him last month, which had blocked the former president from using social media and contacting foreign officials.

Moraes’s latest order barred Bolsonaro from using a cell phone or receiving visitors while under house arrest, with the exception of his lawyers and people who the court has authorized.

Bolsonaro’s spokesperson said police seized his cell phone following the house arrest order on Monday. His lawyers denied claims that Bolsonaro breached any court order and said they intend to appeal the ruling.

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs condemned the house arrest order and accused Moraes of using Brazil’s institutions to silence political opposition and threaten democracy.

“Putting even more restrictions on Jair Bolsonaro’s ability to defend himself in public is not a public service. Let Bolsonaro speak,” the department stated on social media.

The department stated that the U.S. government “will hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct,” but did not specify what actions might be taken in response.

Bolsonaro faces trial over charges related to an alleged plot to overturn Brazil’s 2022 election results. Prosecutors alleged that Bolsonaro and several others attempted to carry out a coup d’état, which allegedly included a plan to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has denied the allegations and any wrongdoing.

President Donald Trump has denounced Bolsonaro’s trial as a “witch hunt” and imposed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports to the United States, which will take effect this month.

“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a highly respected leader throughout the world during his term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,” Trump stated in a July 9 letter, urging Brazil’s government to end its prosecution against Bolsonaro.

In response, Lula said in a statement on July 9 that any unilateral tariff increases by the Trump administration “will be addressed in accordance with Brazil’s Economic Reciprocity Law.”

Lula defended Brazil’s legal system, saying “the judicial proceedings against those responsible for planning the coup d’état fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of Brazil’s Judicial Branch and, as such, are not subject to any interference or threats that could compromise the independence of national institutions.”

On July 30, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Moraes on the grounds that the judge used his position to “authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppress freedom of expression” in Brazil.

Reuters contributed to this report.