Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.
