Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
