Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing
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 government overthrow in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.