Bolsonaro detained after being declared a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of planning a military coup in September and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.
The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.