🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's decision was the potential of his transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.