The former Brazilian president detained after being deemed a flight risk

The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

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

His son, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of his move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.

The plot was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.