Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that he be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
