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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of his move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

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

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

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

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

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.