🔗 Share this article Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement. The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges. High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged. This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape. Court Filing Details Flight Fears In a document approving the arrest, the judge said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory 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 assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night. The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us." He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation." Foreign Shelter Risks Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of his "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said. The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling. International Reactions Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods. He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the following day. Latest Court Petitions It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices. They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments. Context of Sentencing Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial. The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023. But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brasília. The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained. The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power. At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe". He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence. The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.