Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
