🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

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

He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.