Bolsonaro detained after being considered a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - 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 aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.