The former Brazilian president arrested after being deemed a flight risk

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

The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of the former president's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

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

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.