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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.

His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of his move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that he be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.