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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.