The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.