🔗 Share this article

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

The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's decision was the potential of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and return him to office.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.