Jair Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.