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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.