Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the detention, the judge said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, BrasĂlia.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.