Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
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 congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, BrasÃlia.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
