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

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in September and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, the capital city.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.