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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.