🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in last fall and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".

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

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of his transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.