Bolsonaro detained after being declared a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, BrasÃlia.
The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.