Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a flight risk

Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

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

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.