Jair Bolsonaro tried to destroy the electronic bracelet with the welding machine. The explanations given by the former Brazilian president before the court
Jair Bolsonaro, Photo: Bruna Prado / AP / Profimedia
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro claimed on Sunday, during a hearing to verify his detention, that, due to the consumption of certain drugs, he entered a state of “paranoia” and “hallucinations”, which led him to burn his electronic bracelet with a welding machine, because he thought it contained a listening system, according to EFE, taken over by Agerpres.
Jair Bolsonaro answered by video conference the questions of an auxiliary judge regarding the conditions of his detention, after spending the first night in preventive detention at the headquarters of the Federal Police in Brasilia. The hearing on the verification of the conditions of detention is a crucial procedure to verify the physical integrity of the defendant and to verify whether his fundamental rights have been violated.
The deputy judge of the Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, reporter in the trial in which Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempted coup d'état, presided over the meeting and noted the absence of “abuses or irregularities”.
The leader of the Liberal Party (PL), who was in custody since August 4 at his residence in Brasilia, was detained on Saturday morning for “concrete risk of flight” and “threat to public order”. One of the reasons why the arrest warrant was issued was the fact that the ex-president of Brazil (2019-2022) stated that he burned with a welding machine the electronic bracelet imposed by the high court to control his movements.
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At Sunday's hearing, Bolsonaro, a reserve captain, said he entered a state of “some paranoia” between Friday and Saturday, as a result of taking drugs prescribed by different doctors, which caused adverse reactions. The two drugs mentioned are pregabalin (antiepileptic) and sertraline (antidepressant).
Bolsonaro (70 years old) also claimed that he has insomnia and “hallucinations”, believing that there is a listening system inside the bracelet. He said he started manipulating the welding machine from Friday afternoon until midnight Saturday, when the device sent an alert to the authorities, who immediately came to check what happened.
The former president denied that he would have tried to remove his electronic bracelet to escape, as claimed by the investigating judge.
After the hearing, he will receive a visit from his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro. His arrest came before the Supreme Court ordered that the 27-year prison sentence he received for “leading” a coup plot to keep him in power after he lost the 2022 election to the current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, be served.
