🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in September and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The justices found that the protesters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.