🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.