Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was jailed after several months of house arrest for apparently trying to remove an electronic monitoring device from his leg with a soldering iron, said on Sunday that he did it in a "moment of paranoia," while on Saturday he said he did it "out of curiosity" - to see what was inside.
This former far-right leader (2019-2022) was sentenced in September to 27 years in prison for an attempted coup aimed at preventing the return to power of his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated him in the presidential election in October 2022.
Bolsonaro, 70, has been under house arrest and electronic monitoring since August amid an investigation into possible obstruction of his trial.
After being remanded in custody on Saturday, the former president explained during a hearing in Brasilia on Sunday that "due to medication, he felt a certain paranoia on Friday and that he then decided, using a soldering iron, to manipulate the electronic device," according to a Supreme Court transcript seen by Agence France-Presse.
Bolsonaro said he had "hallucinations" that he was under electronic monitoring and a listening device and that he had no intention of escaping.
The police soon came to his house in a luxurious residential area of Brasilia to find out what was going on.
On Saturday, Bolsonaro initially claimed he injured his wrist on the stairs and damaged the device, but later admitted he used a soldering iron to remove the device, the damage from which is visible in police footage.
When the policewoman asked him about the visible signs of burning the device's casing and whether he had used an iron, he replied: "No, a soldering iron!" and casually added: "Out of curiosity."
According to the judge who placed Bolsonaro in custody, Alexandre de Moraes, the former president hoped that during the demonstration planned by his supporters for Friday near his home, he would escape to "one of the embassies nearby" and mentioned the proximity of the US Embassy.
Bolsonaro is close to US President Donald Trump, who has called the former president's trial a "witch hunt" and on Saturday described the news of Bolsonaro's detention as "really bad."
"Trump needs to know that we are a sovereign country," Brazilian President Lula responded from Johannesburg, where he denied at the G20 summit that the imprisonment of his main opponent could hinder relations with the US.
Although Bolsonaro's lawyers have until Monday to file a new appeal against the coup attempt conviction, it is likely that Bolsonaro's judicial elimination has left his camp without a candidate for the 2026 presidential election, while Lula has already announced his intention to run for a fourth term.
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