🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

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

The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.