The former Brazilian president arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, BrasÃlia.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.