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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader'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 offspring.

His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.