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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.

His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from campaigning for office 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 "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.