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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.