Brazil top court votes to keep Bolsonaro in police custody

A four-judge panel of Brazil's Supreme Court votes unanimously to keep the former president in police custody

Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro react outside the Brazilian Federal Police Regional Headquarters, where Bolsonaro was taken after being placed in federal police custody in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov 22, 2025. REUTERS/Mateus Bonom

A four-judge panel of Brazil's Supreme Court voted unanimously on Monday to keep former President Jair Bolsonaro in police custody after Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered his detention on Saturday citing a flight risk.

Justices Flavio Dino, Cristiano Zanin and Carmen Lucia joined Moraes, backing a decision that had ended more than 100 days of house arrest. Bolsonaro is awaiting final appeals against his 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup.

Bolsonaro, 70, was arrested on Saturday after authorities said he took a soldering iron to his ankle monitor, and ahead of a planned supporters' vigil outside his home - which Moraes said could disrupt police monitoring of his house arrest.

The right-wing leader told a judge on Sunday that medicine-induced paranoia and hallucination caused him to tamper with the ankle monitor. He denied any intent to escape or to try to remove the ankle monitor.

"The admitted breach of electronic monitoring not only increases the risk of escape but also indicates a blatant violation of the precautionary measures imposed by the Judiciary," Justice Dino wrote in his vote.

Bolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.