Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being deemed a risk of fleeing

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

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 Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.