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 orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.
