Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.
His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
