Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing

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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.

This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

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

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.

William Robinson
William Robinson

Thijs de Vries is a Dutch culture journalist and curator, passionate about underground art scenes and digital media.