🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.

His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control 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 plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.

The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

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