🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

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

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

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

The justices 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 reinstate his authority.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

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