🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, many his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.