Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.