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

The former head of state was convicted of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to kill the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.