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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

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

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

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.