🔗 Share this article

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

The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

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

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

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

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

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.