Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of his "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
