Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.