🔗 Share this article Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered 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 convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges. High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed. This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape. Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight. This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child. His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night. His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us." He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation." Embassy Asylum Concerns Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said. The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home. Global Responses The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods. He is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday. Latest Court Petitions It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices. They also requested that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems. Context of Sentencing He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula. Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial. The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023. But a following week, on 8 January, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital. The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody. The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority. At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive. He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence. The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.