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The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.

This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of his move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, many his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.