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

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

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

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.