Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.
