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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 convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.

The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from campaigning for 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 aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.