Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being declared a flight risk

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.

The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.