🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

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

His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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 tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.