Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, many his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.