🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held 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 High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

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

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.