Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, BrasÃlia.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.