🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The former head of state was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a detention review on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.