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

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

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

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

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

They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him 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 unreasonably severe".

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

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