Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
