The former Brazilian president detained after being deemed a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of his move to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.