Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which included plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
