Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.
His child, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
