Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
