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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.

His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."

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

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

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

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were detained.

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.