Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of his move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
