Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.
