Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
