The former Brazilian president arrested after being considered a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.