🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.