Jair Bolsonaro detained after being deemed a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented 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 seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.