The former Brazilian president detained after being declared a flight risk

Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

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

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.