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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

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

His son, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of his "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

He was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.