The Brazilian Supreme Court has issued a house arrest order for former President Jair Bolsonaro.
He is standing trial for allegedly plotting a coup in January 2023.
The decision, issued yesterday, comes a day after protests in support of the former far-right president were held across Brazil.
Bolsonaro is accused of seeking to overturn the 2022 election, won by his left-wing opponent and current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro’s camp has confirmed that police placed him under house arrest effective Monday evening at his Brasilia residence.
The police also seized his mobile phone. Supporters of the former president soon gathered outside the residential development to show their support.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers said in a statement that an appeal against the decision would be lodged, arguing that the former president had not violated any court order.
The house arrest order was issued by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is facing sanctions by the administration of United States President Donald Trump for overseeing the case against Bolsonaro.
Justice Moraes said Bolsonaro had violated precautionary measures imposed by the court restricting the former president’s social media use and political messaging.
A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years.
The former president’s supporters stormed and ransacked the National Congress and other state institutions in January 2023 to reject Lula’s victory.
After his defeat weeks earlier, Bolsonaro had declined to publicly concede his loss.
Moraes said in his decision on Monday that the former president was posting content on the social media channels of his three lawmaker sons.
The judge added that Bolsonaro has spread messages with “a clear content of encouragement and instigation to attacks against the Supreme Court and a blatant support for foreign intervention in the Brazilian Judiciary”.
Eduardo lashed out against Moraes, accusing him of acting like a dictator.
The prosecution of Bolsonaro has caused a deep diplomatic rift between Brazil and the Trump administration.
President Lula has rebuked the US sanctions as “unacceptable”.
