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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

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

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

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

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

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

He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.