🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.