Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being deemed a escape threat

Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle 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 land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brasília.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

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

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.