Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win 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 assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.
