Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found 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 a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, 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.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.