🔗 Share this article

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

The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.

The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.

At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.