Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which included plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
