Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of his transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
