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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was prevented because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.