Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a armed takeover in September and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, many his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.