🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The ex-president was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia 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 authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that he be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.