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The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.