Jair Bolsonaro detained after being declared a risk of fleeing

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.

This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.