Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro leaves the hospital where he went to undergo a skin surgery procedure, authorized by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, leaving the house arrest after being convicted by a Supreme Court majority of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election, in Brasilia, Brazil, September 14, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

By Luciana Magalhaes

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Sunday he experienced a medicine-induced "paranoia" that led him to violate his electronic ankle monitor, a document seen by Reuters showed, one day after the federal police took him into custody as a potential flight risk.

On Saturday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the detention of the former right-wing leader ahead of a planned supporters' vigil outside his home, which the judge said could undermine police monitoring of his house arrest. He also noted a police report that Bolsonaro's ankle monitor was violated.

In a custody hearing following his detention, Bolsonaro denied any intent to escape house arrest or attempt to remove the equipment, the document showed, as he said he had a "hallucination" that there was a wire inside the monitor.

Bolsonaro told the judge that the mix of medicines prescribed by different doctors led to the episode. He said he began taking one of them only four days before his detention on Saturday morning.

The former president said he was alone during the episode, as everyone present in the house -- his daughter, his older brother and an adviser -- was asleep at the time.

"The witness stated that, around midnight, he tampered with the ankle bracelet, then 'came to his senses' and stopped using the soldering iron, at which point he informed the officers in charge of his custody," the document showed.

The judge overseeing the hearing decided to maintain police custody as all legal rules were followed during the former president's arrest.

A separate document showed on Saturday that officials received an alert about a possible breach of Bolsonaro's ankle monitor, while police officers at his residence found the device with "clear and significant damage" and burn marks.

COUP CONVICTION AND DETENTION

Bolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

He was kept under house arrest for more than 100 days in Brasilia for violating precautionary measures in a separate case over allegedly courting U.S. interference to halt the criminal case against him.

Bolsonaro is currently detained in a small holding cell in a federal police site, with a single bed, a television, air conditioning and a bathroom.

He is expected to receive a visit from his wife, the former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, later on Sunday, after seeing a doctor and one of his lawyers in the morning. She was not in Brasilia when the arrest happened.

(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Bill Berkrot)