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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 one-time leader was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.

High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the detention, the judge said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.