🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

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

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

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

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

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

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.