The former Brazilian president arrested after being deemed a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.