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

The ex-president was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, 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 evening.

The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.