Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing

Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

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

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.

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