Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was detained on Saturday at his residence in Brazil’s capital to prevent a possible “attempted escape,” days before he was due to begin a prison sentence for leading a coup attempt, according to Brazil’s Supreme Court.
In a statement, Federal Police said it executed a preventive arrest warrant that had been requested by the police themselves and authorized by the Supreme Court, CNN affiliate CNN Brasil reported. He was arrested at his home in Brasília.
Sources told CNN Brasil that a vigil organized by Bolsonaro’s oldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, in front of the complex of residential buildings where the former president lives triggered the request for preventive detention.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers vowed to appeal the arrest and dismissed the claim that the former president was attempting to escape.
Flávio Bolsonaro described the vigil, initially planned for Saturday evening local time, as an opportunity to pray for his father following recent reports of ill health and “for the return of democracy in our country.”
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