🔗 Share this article Bolsonaro detained after being deemed a flight risk Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest. The ex-president was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges. Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light. This included attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight. Judicial Records Show Flight Fears In a document approving the detention, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape. This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring. His child, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend. His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us." He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country." Diplomatic Refuge Fears Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said. The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling. Worldwide Consequences The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods. The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day. Latest Court Petitions It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring. They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses. Details of Guilty Verdict Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case. The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023. But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city. The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained. The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority. At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe". He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term. The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.