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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.

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

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

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

At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

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

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