Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being declared a risk of fleeing
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the detention, the judge said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of his move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.