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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

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

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.