Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.