🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His offspring, Flávio, who works 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 social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in 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 country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.