Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a flight risk

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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.

His son, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.

Jonathan Barber
Jonathan Barber

UK-based gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino reviews and responsible gambling advocacy.