Bolsonaro arrested after being declared a risk of fleeing

The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking his home detention 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 son.

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of his transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.