🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

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

His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of his move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

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

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

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.

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

He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.