Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.