🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on online platforms 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 fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.