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

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

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

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.