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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 the ninth month and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.