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The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.

This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.