Bolsonaro detained after being declared a risk of fleeing
Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.