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

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.