Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
