🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters 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 ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to enact 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 undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.

The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.