Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
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.