News brief

Officials suspected he was going to flee from house arrest to avoid a 27-year prison sentence. The former leader was sentenced earlier this year for plotting a coup in the aftermath of his 2022 reelection loss, a verdict that reinforced Brazil’s deep political divisions. Both Mr. Bolsonaro and U.S. President Donald Trump have called the trial a “witch hunt.” Over the weekend, the Supreme Court said Mr. Bolsonaro’s ankle monitor was damaged – something the Associated Press confirmed via a custody report, including testimony by Mr. Bolsonaro saying he used a soldering iron to try to open the tracking device “out of curiosity.” He was expected to start serving his sentence in the coming weeks, after his appeals were exhausted.

What Bolsonaro coup verdict means for Brazilian trust