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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.

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

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.