Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a military coup in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.
