The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.
