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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.

This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.

The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.