🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

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

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

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

His son, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

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

They also petitioned that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability 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 running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.