The former Brazilian president detained after being declared a escape threat
The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, BrasĂlia.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
