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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state'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 son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, 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 Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

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

He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.