Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being declared a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote 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 kill the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.