Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.
