Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a risk of fleeing

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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.

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

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on 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 country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.

Carrie Guerra
Carrie Guerra

Eleanor Hayes is a digital media analyst with a passion for streaming technology and user experience.