Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.
