Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
