🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

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

His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment 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 fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.