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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.

This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

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

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control 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 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

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