Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of planning a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of his transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.