Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, the judge said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of his move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
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 return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.
