The former Brazilian president detained after being deemed a escape threat

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

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

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

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.