🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was convicted of planning a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.

This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

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

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.

At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.