Bolsonaro is Preventively Arrested for Risk of Fleeing after Flávio Calls for Vigil

According to the decision issued by Moraes, the house arrest was revoked, and the former president was transferred to the Federal Police Superintendence in the Federal District, where he must remain in a special custody location. The new preventive arrest was requested by the Federal Police, which pointed out a concrete risk of escape. This risk was identified after Senator Flávio Bolsonaro called for a ‘vigil’ in support of his father near the residence where the former president was serving house arrest. The dispatch mentioned that the gathering could lead to crowds that would hinder police supervision and the enforcement of judicial decisions. The vigil could create a favorable environment for escape attempts and obstructing the fulfillment of house arrest. Additionally, the monitoring system recorded an incident of Bolsonaro’s electronic ankle monitor being violated early Saturday morning, reinforcing the imminent risk of evasion. Moraes stated in the dispatch that the mobilization called by Flávio Bolsonaro resembled strategies previously used by the ex-president’s supporters, including encampments in front of barracks after the 2022 elections. According to the minister, there was an attempt to replicate this type of mobilization that resulted in the attacks on January 8, 2023. The decision also mentioned the history of the ex-president’s allies leaving the country to evade justice. The cases of Deputy Carla Zambelli, who fled to Italy, and former Abin director and Deputy Alexandre Ramagem, who recently left the country for the United States, were cited. Both were convicted in the same case that led to Bolsonaro’s conviction for attempted coup d’état. The arrest comes at a sensitive time in the case. Bolsonaro had gone through successive stages of judicial restrictions, starting with precautionary measures like wearing an ankle monitor, which were then converted into preventive house arrest. Last week, the STF rejected appeals made by the defense, bringing the process closer to its final phase. The conviction of Bolsonaro established by the STF as the leader of a criminal organization, composed of military, police, and allies, that worked to prevent the power transition after the 2022 elections won by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The former president was found guilty of five crimes: armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, qualified damage by violence and serious threats, and the deterioration of a preserved property. Along with Bolsonaro, the other seven defendants in the criminal proceedings were also convicted: Alexandre Ramagem, Almir Garnier, Anderson Torres, Augusto Heleno, Mauro Cid, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, and Walter Braga Netto. According to the Attorney-General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, the criminal organization acted on various fronts since 2021 to execute the rupture plan, from public speeches discrediting the electoral system to alleged pressures on the High Command of the Armed Forces to support a coup-like decree, the so-called ‘coup draft.’ Gonet also mentioned movements attempting to disrupt the election process, referring to the blockades by the Federal Highway Police (PRF) on election day in 2022, particularly in regions with voters favorable to the opponent, Lula.