🔗 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 former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

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

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

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

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.