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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.