🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.