Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices 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 arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. Lula was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.