Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.
