🔗 Share this article Bolsonaro taken into custody after being declared a escape threat Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention. The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges. High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed. This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee". Court Filing Details Flight Fears In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway". This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child. His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night. Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us." He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country." Foreign Shelter Risks Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said. The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home. Worldwide Consequences His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports. Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day. Recent Legal Requests It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance. They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments. Background on Conviction The former president was convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings. The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023. But a week later, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, BrasÃlia. The police took action and around 1,500 people were detained. The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and return him to office. At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive. He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence. The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.