The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being declared a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a military coup in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
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 "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.