Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.