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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

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

His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.