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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".

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

His child, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.