Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to struggle 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."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.