The former Brazilian president arrested after being considered a risk of fleeing
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.