The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being declared a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, BrasĂlia.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.