🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

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

They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

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

He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.