Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. Lula was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.