Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a escape threat
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers 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 nation, or watch it all from your mobile device 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 return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.