🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.

His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

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

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.