🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your phone 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 nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

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

Worldwide Consequences

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

The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.