Brazil’s Bolsonaro Under House Arrest as Court Tightens Net

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is feeling the squeeze. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered police to beef up security outside his home, making sure the ex-leader doesn’t step out of line while under house arrest.

The notice, sent Monday, calls for round-the-clock monitoring to enforce the restraining orders already slapped on Bolsonaro — including restrictions on his social media use and political messaging.

The far-right firebrand landed in house arrest earlier this month after being accused of violating those court-imposed measures. Police later revealed they had found a draft letter on his phone asking Argentina for asylum, though Bolsonaro’s defence team insists it was an old file and no proof that he planned to flee.

His trial kicks off September 2, and the stakes couldn’t be higher: Bolsonaro faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of plotting to topple his successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after losing the 2022 election.

The drama is reverberating beyond Brazil. In Washington, Donald Trump has leapt to Bolsonaro’s defence, blasting the charges as a political “witch-hunt” against his former ally. Trump even slapped 50 percent tariffs on Brazil last month, directly linking the move to Bolsonaro’s case. Soon after, the Trump administration went further, sanctioning Justice de Moraes and accusing him of “arbitrary detentions that violate human rights”.

For Bolsonaro, who once thrived on fiery rhetoric and populist showmanship, the irony is sharp: the man who railed against the establishment is now stuck inside his own house, surrounded by police, with a possible decades-long sentence hanging over him.