Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a escape threat
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment 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 electronic monitoring.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.