Jair Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year 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 legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.