The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being considered a flight risk

Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in September and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.