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

The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, 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 last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.