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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

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

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.