Days before the start of a trial that could see him jailed for more than 40 years, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been placed under constant police surveillance by order of a supreme court justice.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that federal police must monitor Bolsonaro's Brasilia mansion 24 hours a day to prevent the far-right leader from fleeing the country.
The 70-year-old Bolsonaro is already under house arrest and wears an electronic ankle tag, but the prosecutor general requested tighter surveillance after federal police reported he had drafted a request for political asylum in Argentina in February 2024.
The trial, scheduled to begin, involves charges that Bolsonaro and seven of his closest aides conspired to overturn the results of the 2022 election, which he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
In a parallel case, Bolsonaro and his son, congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, are under investigation for allegedly running a criminal organization to pressure justices into acquitting the former president.
Eduardo, who has been in the US since February and boasted of influencing former U.S.
President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Brazil, has been intensifying his activity as the trial approaches.
This pressure has included U.S.
sanctions being imposed on the justices handling the case.
Current President Lula da Silva has condemned the interference, calling Trump 'crazy' and referring to Eduardo Bolsonaro as a 'coward.'
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that federal police must monitor Bolsonaro's Brasilia mansion 24 hours a day to prevent the far-right leader from fleeing the country.
The 70-year-old Bolsonaro is already under house arrest and wears an electronic ankle tag, but the prosecutor general requested tighter surveillance after federal police reported he had drafted a request for political asylum in Argentina in February 2024.
The trial, scheduled to begin, involves charges that Bolsonaro and seven of his closest aides conspired to overturn the results of the 2022 election, which he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
In a parallel case, Bolsonaro and his son, congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, are under investigation for allegedly running a criminal organization to pressure justices into acquitting the former president.
Eduardo, who has been in the US since February and boasted of influencing former U.S.
President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Brazil, has been intensifying his activity as the trial approaches.
This pressure has included U.S.
sanctions being imposed on the justices handling the case.
Current President Lula da Silva has condemned the interference, calling Trump 'crazy' and referring to Eduardo Bolsonaro as a 'coward.'
