Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
