Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, BrasÃlia.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
