🔗 Share this article

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

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

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

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.