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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the detention, the judge said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.