Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.
