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Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

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

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of the former president's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also requested that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.

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

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.