Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His child, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.