Bolsonaro detained after being considered a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.