The former Brazilian president detained after being considered a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.