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The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.

This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

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

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

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

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.