Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.