Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was determined responsible 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 scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - 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 aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.
