Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.