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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

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

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's determination was the potential of his move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

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