🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

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

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.