Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which included plans to murder the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
