Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a flight risk

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, the capital city.

The police took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.