The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being considered a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.