Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a risk of fleeing
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of his move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.