🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.