Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a risk of fleeing

Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was convicted of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of the former president's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

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

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.