Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
