Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
