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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo 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 authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.