The former Brazilian president detained after being deemed a risk of fleeing
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months 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 designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.