The former Brazilian president arrested after being considered a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.