Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.