The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
