Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. Lula was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
