Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to battle 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 nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.
