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

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.

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

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

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

They also asked that he be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

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

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.