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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 government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, many his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and return him to office.

At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.