The former Brazilian president arrested after being deemed a flight risk

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

The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.