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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

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

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

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of his move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.