Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being declared a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.