Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
