Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, 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 the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.