Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge 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 land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the potential of his "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.