Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a flight risk

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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight 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 "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.

Tommy Aguirre
Tommy Aguirre

Lena Weber is a seasoned journalist and blogger based in Berlin, focusing on German politics and social trends with a passion for storytelling.