Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.
