🔗 Share this article

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

The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

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

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was stopped because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.

The police took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.