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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

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

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to fight 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 nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.