(MENAFN) Brazil’s Supreme Court has unanimously approved the continued preemptive detention of former President Jair Bolsonaro, following an incident in which he reportedly tried to remove his electronic ankle monitor with a soldering iron while under house arrest.

The 70-year-old ex-leader was arrested early Saturday and remains in custody at the federal police headquarters in Brasília. He had been confined to his residence since August while awaiting placement to serve a 27-year prison sentence tied to his involvement in an attempted coup in 2022, when he sought to stay in power after losing the election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A four-member panel of the Supreme Court endorsed the decision to keep Bolsonaro detained. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who authorized the initial arrest warrant, argued that Bolsonaro posed a flight risk and had violated court-imposed restrictions.

According to the ruling, Bolsonaro admitted to tampering with the monitoring device, an act that de Moraes described as "serious foul play, repeated non-compliance with precautionary measures and evident disrespect to the court."

Bolsonaro later claimed before an assistant judge that a recent adjustment to his medication for chronic hiccups triggered anxiety and hallucinations, prompting him to attempt to break the ankle bracelet.

Before this incident, he had already been barred from using social media platforms and from receiving visitors who had not been approved in advance.

The Supreme Court’s First Panel also reviewed and unanimously dismissed the final appeals submitted by all individuals convicted in the coup-related case. With these appeals rejected, the ruling is effectively settled. Bolsonaro’s legal team now retains only narrow procedural avenues that deal with technical issues—such as alleged omissions in the decision—rather than the verdict itself, and these are expected to be rejected swiftly by Justice de Moraes.

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