Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said information 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 escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight 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 land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.