🔗 Share this article Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a flight risk Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement. The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed. This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee". Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight. This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring. His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night. His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us." He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation." Diplomatic Refuge Fears Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said. The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home. International Reactions Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods. Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day. Latest Court Petitions It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance. They also asked that he be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments. Context of Sentencing He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial. The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023. But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brasília. The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained. The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office. At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive. He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence. The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.