🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

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

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.