The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being declared a flight risk

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

The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

His son, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

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

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

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

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The judges found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and return him to office.

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

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

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.

Joel Evans
Joel Evans

Elara Vance is a tech strategist and writer with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and AI applications across various sectors.