Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, 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 thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.
