Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.
