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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.

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

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.