🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

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

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

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.