Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of his transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.