Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.
