Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years 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 next presidential race.