🔗 Share this article

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.