Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.