Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove 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 child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.