The former Brazilian president arrested after being declared a flight risk
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, his son Flรกvio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge 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 drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brasรญlia.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
