Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.
