🔗 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 one-time leader was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.