Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.