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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

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

They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

He was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.