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

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, the capital city.

The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.