🔗 Share this article

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

The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His child, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.

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

The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.