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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

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

His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.

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

The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

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

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.