Bolsonaro detained after being considered a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a military coup in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of his transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.