🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice 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 potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

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 electronic monitoring.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.