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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was convicted of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

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

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

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

He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.