🔗 Share this article

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

The ex-president was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

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

They also asked that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which included plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

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

At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

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

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.