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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a detention review on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.