Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the judge said information from the centre monitoring 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 escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.
