Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
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 "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.