Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, FlĂ¡vio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, BrasĂlia.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
