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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to battle 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 Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.