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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

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

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of his move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.

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

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital 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 Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

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

Context of Sentencing

He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and return him to office.

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

He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.