Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of his transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. Lula was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
