Jair Bolsonaro taken into custody after being declared a flight risk

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.