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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a military coup in September and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

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

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His child, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing 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 authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.