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

The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.