🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".

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

His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.

The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.

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

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

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.