🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.

This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

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

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, many his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

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

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