Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing

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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in September and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.

Sandra Brown
Sandra Brown

Automotive engineer with 15 years of experience in electric drivetrains and robotics.