🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in September and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle 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 nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.

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

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, many his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around 1,500 people were detained.

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

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

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

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.