Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a escape threat
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.