Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a escape threat

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.

This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate 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 flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.

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

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.