Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of his transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.