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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

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

Details of Guilty Verdict

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

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which included plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brasília.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

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

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.