Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement 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 chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
