Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is facing a partisan criminal prosecution over allegations that he incited and led an attempted coup after he lost his 2022 re-election bid to current socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
On Friday, in what Bolsonaro described as a “supreme humiliation,” the right-wing ex-president was ordered to wear an ankle monitor and be subject to a host of other extreme court-imposed restrictions while awaiting trial, according to the Associated Press.
Those restrictions from Brazil’s Supreme Court, which included a prohibition against communicating with members of his own family, came as federal police conducted court-ordered raids to search his home and the headquarters of his political party.
Bolsonaro subject to harsh restrictions
The criminal trial of former President Bolsonaro, who is running for re-election, is set to resume in August or September, but in the meantime, left-wing Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes imposed a slew of harsh restrictions on the defendant, including the forced wearing of an ankle monitor to constantly track his whereabouts.
Other restrictions include being placed under house arrest and barred from leaving the residence at night, as well as prohibitions against going to any foreign embassies or consulates, communicating with any foreign ambassadors or diplomats, using social media, or contacting other alleged co-conspirators, including his own son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, an elected lawmaker who currently lives in the U.S.
“It is a supreme humiliation,” Bolsonaro told reporters after he put on the ankle monitor. “I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy, but the precautionary measures are because of that.”
Another of the former president’s sons, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, called out the justice by name and decried the extreme restrictions he imposed, and said on social media, “Prohibiting a father from speaking to his own son is the greatest symbol of the hatred that has consumed Alexandre de Moraes.”
The leader of Bolsonaro’s party, Congressman Sóstenes Cavalcante, also spoke out against the ordered raid of the party’s headquarters, and told the AP that it was “another chapter in the persecution of conservatives and right-wing figures” in Brazil.
Trump condemns prosecution of Bolsonaro
When Bolsonaro was the president of Brazil, he became a close ally and good friend with President Donald Trump during Trump’s first term — as did his son Eduardo — and even visited with the American leader at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida in 2020.
Trump, who knows first-hand what it is like to be targeted by a highly partisan prosecution, has repeatedly excoriated Brazil’s current political leadership and judicial system for the “witch hunt” mounted against his friend, and even imposed an additional 50% tariff on Brazilian goods in response to the ongoing trial.
In a July 7 Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “Brazil is doing a terrible thing on their treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro. I have watched, as has the World, as they have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year! He is not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE.”
“This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent — Something I know much about!” he continued. “It happened to me, times 10, and now our Country is the ‘HOTTEST’ in the World! The Great People of Brazil will not stand for what they are doing to their former President.”
“I’ll be watching the WITCH HUNT of Jair Bolsonaro, his family, and thousands of his supporters, very closely,” Trump added. “The only Trial that should be happening is a Trial by the Voters of Brazil — It’s called an Election. LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!”
Trump’s letter to Bolsonaro
More recently, President Trump on Thursday posted a copy of a letter he sent to former President Bolsonaro, in which he wrote of the “terrible treatment at the hands of an unjust system turned against you. This trial should end immediately!”
He also highlighted their shared concerns about the Brazilian government’s censorship of free speech and how he had “strongly voiced my disapproval both publicly and through our Tariff policy. It is my sincere hope that the Government of Brazil changes course, stops attacking political opponents, and ends their ridiculous censorship regime. I will be watching closely.”
The post Former Brazil President Bolsonaro forced to wear ankle monitor amid political prosecution for alleged 2022 coup appeared first on Conservative Institute.
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Author: Ben Marquis
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