🔗 Share this article

Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

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 prison, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence 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.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement 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 the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

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

He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

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