Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil

Brazilian federal police arrested Former president Jair Bolsonaro preventively on Saturday, days before his 27-year prison sentence began for leading a coup attemptofficials said.

A close aide said the embattled former leader was taken to police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, from his house arrest.

The force said in a brief statement, which did not name Bolsonaro, that he acted at the request of Brazil’s Supreme Court.

Neither Brazil’s federal police nor the Supreme Court provided further details.

Bolsonaro’s aide, Andriely Cirino, confirmed to The News that the arrest took place around 6 a.m. Saturday.

The 70-year-old former president was taken from his home in a gated community in the exclusive Jardim Botánico neighborhood to federal police headquarters, Cirino said.

Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest in early August, weeks before being found guilty in his coup trial. His lawyers begged Brazil’s Supreme Court to keep him home to serve his sentence, citing his poor health.

Like most of his colleagues, Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraeswho oversaw the coup case, rarely makes decisions on Saturdays unless there are security risks involved.

Local media reported that Bolsonaro, who was president of Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was expected to begin serving his sentence sometime next week after the far-right leader exhausted all appeals of his conviction for leading a coup attempt.

Saturday’s preventive arrest does not mean that Bolsonaro will remain at federal police headquarters to serve his sentence. Brazilian law requires that all convicts begin their sentences in prison.

One of the former president’s sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, has been inciting his followers to take to the streets in defense of his father since Thursday.

Some of Bolsonaro’s supporters, who claim he is being politically persecuted, are expected to gather in front of federal police headquarters throughout the weekend.

The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court judges for Trying to overthrow Brazil’s democracy. after his 2022 electoral defeat against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors said the coup plot included plans to kill Lula and encourage an insurrection in early 2023.

Bolsonaro was also found guilty of leading an armed criminal organization and attempting to violently abolish the democratic rule of law. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing.

He remains a key figure in Brazilian politics, despite being not eligible to apply again at least until 2030, after a separate ruling by Brazil’s highest electoral court. Polls show he would be a strong candidate in next year’s election if he were allowed to run.

Bolsonaro is an ally of US President Donald Trump, who called his trial a “witch hunt.” Bolsonaro was mentioned in a July order from the US administration increasing tariffs several Brazilian exports by 50%. On Friday, Trump removed most of the higher tariffs on Brazilian exports.