Bolsonaro detained after being deemed a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.