Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.