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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of planning a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."

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

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.

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

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The judges found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.