Jair Bolsonaro detained after being deemed a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the chance of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.