Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a escape threat
Bolsonaro 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 armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.