Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's determination was the potential of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
