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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The ex-president was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy 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 had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

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

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned 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 "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.