🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

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

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

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 digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.