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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that he be permitted 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 convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

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