Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
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 period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.