The former Brazilian president arrested after being declared a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, BrasĂlia.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.