The former Brazilian president detained after being considered a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.