Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a escape threat
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, BrasÃlia.
The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.