Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a risk of fleeing
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in September and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight 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 competing in the next presidential race.