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

The ex-president was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.

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

His child, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."

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

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

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

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in 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 included plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.