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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement 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 "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.

His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

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

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.

At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.