Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a risk of fleeing

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

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.

Ashley Flores
Ashley Flores

A passionate film critic and former screenwriter from South London, covering indie and blockbuster releases.