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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

The police took action and around 1,500 people were detained.

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

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

He was also prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.