🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which included plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.