Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's determination was the chance of his "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
