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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

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

The justices found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.