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

The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

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

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brasília.

The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.