Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge 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. Lula was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.