Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held 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 the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.