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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo 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 allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

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

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.