Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing

Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.

The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.