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 house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in September and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.