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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

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

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, the capital city.

The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.