The former Brazilian president arrested after being considered a escape threat
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.