The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the judge said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.