Jair Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. Lula was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.