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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.

The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

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

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.