🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.