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The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said information 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 chaos caused by the protest called by his child.

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

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's determination was the potential of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the backing 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, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.