The former Brazilian president detained after being considered a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention 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 his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.