Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters 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 country, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.
