The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being considered a risk of fleeing

The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".

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

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. His successor was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.