Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.