Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
