Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of his move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
