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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His child, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

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

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

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

They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was stopped 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 following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.