Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being declared a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight 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.