Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, 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 backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
