🔗 Share this article

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

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

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience 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 permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.