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

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.