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

The ex-president was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula 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 public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.