Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader'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 gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.