Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's determination was the chance of his "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.
