The former Brazilian president detained after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.