Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
