Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of his move to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating 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.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.
