Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
