Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the pre-emptive arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday, days before he was set to begin his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt.
The embattled leader was taken to the headquarters of the country’s federal police in the capital, Brasilia, from his house arrest.
The Supreme Court judge leading the trial against Bolsonaro, Alexandre de Moraes, concluded Bolsonaro was a “high flight risk” and ordered pre-trial detention, according to the ruling.
The ruling says Bolsonaro planned to break his ankle monitor during a rally planned for later on Saturday, called by his son outside the politician’s home in Brasilia.
Sources close to the case earlier said the former leader had been taken into custody as a precaution and not to begin serving his sentence.
Celso Vilardi, one of Bolsonaro’s lawyers, said that “he has been imprisoned, but I don’t know why.”