Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil’s former president in preventive detention

Former President of Brazil

“Concrete flight risk” – Bolsonaro in preventive detention

The ex-president of Brazil has been sentenced to a long prison sentence for an attempted coup, but the verdict is not yet final. Now Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested because he is a flight risk.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested “preventively” because of a possible flight risk. The Supreme Court (STF) announced that this was not the execution of the sentence imposed by the Supreme Federal Court for an attempted coup, but rather a measure due to a “concrete risk of flight” and a “threat to public order”. Judge Alexandre de Moraes referred to new findings from the federal police: Shortly after midnight (local time) an incident was registered with Bolsonaro’s electronic ankle bracelet, which indicated an attempt to “damage the device.”

Bolsonaro was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison in September for an attempted coup. However, the judgment is not yet legally binding. Observers had assumed that he could start prison next week.

On Friday, Bolsonaro’s son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, called for a nightly vigil in front of his father’s house. According to Moraes, such actions could “complicate control measures and enable an eventual escape.” The judge pointed out the possibility that Bolsonaro could flee to one of the embassies near his home.

Bolsonaro was taken into custody in Brasília at around 6 a.m. (local time) and taken to the Federal Police Headquarters, where he was placed in a special room for former state and public officials, the news portal “G1” reported. The ex-president had been under house arrest since August for violating court conditions. In view of the impending final conviction, the STF considered house arrest to be “not sufficient” despite electronic monitoring and constant police accompaniment.

Bolsonaro’s defense requested on Friday that the sentence be carried out under house arrest, citing the 70-year-old’s health problems. However, Brazil’s highest court rejected the application on Saturday. In view of the measure imposed today, the defense’s applications have become “invalid”, the news portal “G1” quoted federal judge Alexandre de Moraes, among others