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The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a military coup in September and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

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

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.