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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's determination was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.