🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.

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

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.