The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being declared a risk of fleeing
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.