Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.