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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was convicted of planning a military coup in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.