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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 sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

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

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

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

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

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

They also asked that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.