Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.
