Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
