🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was convicted of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of his transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

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

The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.