🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".

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

His son, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.