Bolsonaro taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing

Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.