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

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in September and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a document approving the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the vigil 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 Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.