Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.