Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.