🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The judges found that the protesters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.

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

He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.