Bolsonaro detained after being deemed a escape threat
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.