🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight 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 land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

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

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

The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.