Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting 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 guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. His successor was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.