Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in September and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement 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 his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.
