The former Brazilian president arrested after being considered a risk of fleeing

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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.

Norman Finley
Norman Finley

A software engineer and tech writer passionate about AI ethics and open-source projects, with over a decade of industry experience.