Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of his transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.