Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.
