🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

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

He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.