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

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to kill the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.

The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.