Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
