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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 ex-president was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.

His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.

The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.