Sao Paulo (Brazil), Dec 27 (AP) A Brazilian judge on Saturday issued house arrest orders for 10 people who have been convicted and sentenced for participating in a plot to keep former President Jair Bolsonaro in power after he lost the 2022 election.

The decision by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes comes just hours after authorities in neighbouring Paraguay arrested a former police commander who also had been convicted in the plot and returned him to Brazil.

Silvinei Vasques, the former director of Brazil's Federal Highway Police, was extradited to Brazil on Friday night, after he had secretly entered Paraguay and attempted to board a flight to El Salvador using Paraguayan documents. According to Brazilian police, Vasques tore off his ankle monitor on Thursday and drove to Paraguay in a rental car.

The 10 people subjected to house arrest orders Saturday had been facing cautionary measures, like the use of ankle monitors, or had been ordered to stay at the same location every night. They include Filipe Martins, a former adviser to Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison in September for attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat.

The trials against Bolsonaro and several generals and police officers accused of participating in the plot have been closely followed in Brazil, where democracy was reinstated in 1985, after decades of military rule.

US President Donald Trump initially described the proceedings against ideological ally Bolsonaro as a “witch hunt” and raised tariffs on Brazilian imports over Bolsonaro's trial, which he described as an “international disgrace.” The Trump administration had also placed financial sanctions against De Moraes, the lead judge in Bolsonaro's trial. But the US government appears to have softened its stance following Bolsonaro's conviction.

In November, Trump signed an executive order lowering tariffs on Brazilian beef and coffee, two of the country's largest exports to the United States.

Earlier this month, the US Treasury lifted sanctions against De Moraes and his wife, as both nations continue to engage in trade negotiations. (AP) SKS SKS

Brazilian judge places convicted coup-plot participants under house arrest after a convicted former police commander fled and was returned. A judge converted or imposed house arrest on ten convicted participants in a plot to keep a former president in power, replacing or supplementing prior cautionary measures like ankle monitors and nightly stay requirements, after a convicted former police commander fled, was extradited, and returned to face supervision.