Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
