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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, 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, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, the capital city.

The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.