The former Brazilian president arrested after being considered a escape threat
Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president 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 decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.