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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The former head of state was convicted of planning a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.