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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The ex-president was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The justices found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

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

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.