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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.

The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.