Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.
