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The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

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

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".

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

His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

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

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight 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.