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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a document approving the detention, the judge said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.

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

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Details of Guilty Verdict

The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

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

At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.