Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
