Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.