The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.