Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder the current president 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 presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.