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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.

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

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.