Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of the former president's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.