🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of his transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.

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