🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

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

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

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of his transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which included plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

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

The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

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

He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.