Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.