Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
