Jair Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years 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 competing in the next presidential race.