Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
