The former Brazilian president arrested after being declared a flight risk

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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His son, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.

Penny Ramirez
Penny Ramirez

Cloud infrastructure specialist with over a decade of experience in DevOps and automation, passionate about scalable solutions.