Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of his "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
