🔗 Share this article

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

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His child, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

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

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brasília.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.