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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The ex-president was sentenced of planning a military coup in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was determined responsible 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 knew of a plan which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

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

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.