🔗 Share this article

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

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.

His son, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

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

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

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

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

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.