Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro claimed that an unexpected reaction to an antidepressant mixed with a strong painkiller led him to tamper with his electronic ankle monitor. He told a custody hearing that the drug cocktail triggered a “psychotic attack,” causing hallucinations that the monitor was secretly recording his words.
The former leader was arrested by federal police after they detected interference with his tracking equipment, suspecting he was preparing to escape to a foreign embassy to avoid his 27-year sentence for a failed coup. Bolsonaro firmly denied any plan to flee the country during his court appearance.
Political analysts expressed immediate skepticism over the medical defense, noting its contradiction with his prior claim of acting “out of curiosity.” His admission involved using a soldering iron on the device to stop the imagined surveillance.
