🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was convicted of planning a military coup in September and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

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

The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.