🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.