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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in September and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.

This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

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

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brasília.

The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

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