🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.