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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.

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

This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".

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

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

He was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

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

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.