In the continued legal fallout from his failed coup conviction, Jair Bolsonaro was arrested after being detected tampering with his electronic ankle monitor. Federal police suspected he was preparing to flee to a foreign embassy to avoid the 27-year prison sentence handed down by the Supreme Court.
During a custody hearing, Bolsonaro denied the escape plot, claiming that a “psychotic attack” induced by a potent mix of prescription drugs caused him to damage the device. He testified that the episode made him hallucinate that the monitor was secretly recording his conversations.
Skepticism runs high among political analysts, who point out the glaring inconsistency between this complex story and his previous, simpler claim of acting “out of curiosity.” He admitted to using a soldering iron in his attempt to disable the perceived spy equipment.