Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of the former president's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
