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

The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that he be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.