Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
