Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.