Jair Bolsonaro: World press reacts to the arrest of the former president

Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) was arrested in Brasília on Saturday (22). The arrest was made as a preventive measure. The 27-year and three-month sentence for attempting a coup against the former chief of the Planalto has not been executed yet. International newspapers covered the news of the former president’s arrest worldwide. The American newspaper The Washington Post highlighted that the arrest occurred ‘days before he was due to begin serving his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt’. The most circulated newspaper in the United States, The New York Times, also reported the arrest and stated in the headline: ‘Fearing he might flee, Brazilian police arrest Jair Bolsonaro’. The publication mentions that the detention occurred days before the former president was to start serving his 27-year prison sentence for orchestrating a failed coup attempt. The Times also mentions the order from the Supreme Federal Court (STF) stating that Bolsonaro’s ankle monitor was violated just after midnight on Saturday, showing that the ex-president intended to escape, ‘taking advantage of the turmoil caused by the planned vigil’. The newspaper recalls that in August, the police claimed to have seized a document suggesting that Bolsonaro planned to seek asylum in Argentina. The American television network CBS stated that the former president was arrested ‘days before starting a decades-long prison sentence’. The channel said that Bolsonaro’s lawyers were ‘asking the Supreme Federal Court to keep him under house arrest to serve his sentence, citing his precarious health condition’. Leading European media outlets also covered the news. The UK’s The Guardian published that the right-wing former president was arrested in Brazil and highlighted that Bolsonaro was taken from his residence to a federal police base about 11 kilometers from the capital. It also stated that the arrest occurred ‘amid suspicions that he was about to flee to a foreign embassy to avoid being arrested for plotting a military coup’. The French newspaper Le Monde said that the former chief of the Planalto ‘is being tried for a failed coup attempt and has been under house arrest since August’. The publication points out that sources close to the case reported that Bolsonaro had been detained as a precaution and not to start serving his sentence. ‘Celso Vilardi, one of Bolsonaro’s lawyers, told AFP [Agence France Presse] that ‘he was arrested, but I don’t know why’, reports Le Monde. The French network France 24 states that Bolsonaro is awaiting trial and that earlier this year, he had been ‘sentenced to prison for a failed coup attempt’. The Spanish El País highlighted Jair Bolsonaro’s arrest on its website homepage. The newspaper states that former president Bolsonaro was arrested ‘after tampering with his electronic ankle monitor on the eve of starting to serve his sentence’. It also reports that the Brazilian ex-president, sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempted coup, is under police custody ‘due to the high risk of escape’. The German Deutsche Welle also featured the news of the arrest on its website homepage, with the title: ‘Brazil: Former president Bolsonaro is arrested’. The newspaper explains that the Federal Police made a preventive arrest and that he is expected to start serving his 27-year prison sentence in a few days. The arrest was also covered by the Latin American press. Clarín from Argentina pointed out that the day before the arrest, the right-wing leader’s defense team ‘had requested the Supreme Federal Court to allow him to serve his 27-year prison sentence at home for health reasons’. Al Jazeera, from Qatar and one of the most influential news networks in the Arab world, reported that Jair Bolsonaro was arrested ‘days before his 27-year prison sentence’ and highlighted that he had been under house arrest since August. *Under the supervision of Luciana Caczan **Being updated