Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.
