Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
