🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

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

His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight 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 offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo 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 domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

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

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.