Jair Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.