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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight 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 judge's ruling was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.