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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.