🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention 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 "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

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

The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.