In a dramatic turn of events, Brazil’s Supreme Court has issued a preemptive arrest warrant for former President Jair Bolsonaro. The decision comes from a judge who believes Bolsonaro was on the verge of fleeing, mere days before his scheduled 27-year prison term for orchestrating a coup attempt was set to commence.

At 70 years old, Bolsonaro was removed from house arrest and transported to the federal police headquarters in Brasilia. This move follows a ruling by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who highlighted a breach in Bolsonaro’s court-mandated ankle monitor.

Justice de Moraes noted that the monitoring device, which Bolsonaro has been required to wear since July 18 due to concerns he might abscond, was tampered with at 12:08 a.m. on Saturday (2:08 p.m. AEDT). The judge pointed out that this action suggested Bolsonaro’s intent to escape, potentially taking advantage of chaos from a protest organized by his son to aid his getaway.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Justice de Moraes emphasized that the arrest should be conducted with utmost respect for Bolsonaro’s dignity. He instructed law enforcement to avoid using handcuffs and to ensure the process remained free from media spectacle.

He also said the arrest “should be made with all respect to the dignity of former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, without the use of handcuffs and without any media exposition”.

Bolsonaro’s aide Andriely Cirino confirmed to The Associated Press that the arrest took place about 6am on Saturday, only hours after de Moraes made the unexpected decision.

The former president was taken from his house in a gated community in the upscale Jardim Botanico neighbourhood to the federal police headquarters, Cirino said.

De Moraes mentioned in his ruling a video published this week by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, in which he egged on supporters to take to the streets in his father’s defence.

“The video shot by Flávio Bolsonaro stimulates the disrespect to the constitutional text, to the judicial decision and to (democratic) institutions, showing there’s no limits for the criminal organisation in its attempt to create chaos and conflict in this country, in a total disrespect to democracy,” de Moraes wrote.

“Brazil’s democracy has reached sufficient maturity to steer away and prosecute pathetic illegal initiatives to defend the criminal organisation that is responsible for a coup d’etat attempt in Brazil,” he added.

Some of Bolsonaro’s supporters, who claim he is being politically persecuted, are expected to rally outside the federal police headquarters throughout the weekend.

A divisive figure in Brazil’s politics

Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest in early August, weeks before he was convicted in his coup trial. His lawyers were pleading with Brazil’s Supreme Court to keep him at home to serve his sentence, citing his poor health.

Local media reported that Bolsonaro, who was Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, was expected to begin serving his sentence sometime next week after the far-right leader exhausted all appeals of his conviction for leading a coup attempt.

Saturday’s preemptive arrest does not mean Bolsonaro will remain at the federal police headquarters to serve his sentence. Brazilian law requires that all convicts start their sentences in prison.

The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election loss to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors said the coup plot included plans to kill Lula and to encourage an insurrection in early 2023.

Bolsonaro was also found guilty on charges of leading an armed criminal organisation and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing.

He remains a key figure in Brazilian politics, despite being ineligible to run again at least until 2030, after a separate ruling by Brazil’s top electoral court. Polls show he would be a strong candidate in next year’s vote if allowed to run.

Bolsonaro is an ally of US President Donald Trump, who has called his trial a “witch hunt”. Bolsonaro was mentioned in a July order by the US administration raising tariffs on several Brazilian exports by 50 per cent. Trump on Friday dropped most of the higher tariffs on Brazilian exports.